# verses

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 Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,


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 For as yet it had not fallen upon them. These had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.


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 Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying:


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 But Peter said to him: May your silver perish with you, because you have thought to obtain the gift of God with money.


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 Therefore, repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord, that perhaps the thought of your heart shall be forgiven you.


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 And Simon answered and said: Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken come upon me.


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 Therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 


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 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. The same is desert.


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 And he arose and went, and a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, had came to Jerusalem to worship.


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 And Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said: Do you understand what you read?


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 And he said: How can I, unless someone guides me? And he begged Philip to come up and sit with him.


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 Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he did not open his mouth.


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 In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.


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 And the eunuch said to Philip: I beg you, of whom does the prophet speak? Of himself, or of somebody else?


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 And as they went along the road, they came upon some water; and the eunuch said: Look, water! What is stopping me from being baptized?


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 And Philip said: If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.


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 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.


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 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.


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 But Philip was found at Azotus; and passing through that area, he preached the gospel to all the towns, until he came to Caesarea. 


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 But Saul, yet breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,


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 and asked from him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.


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 And as he journeyed, it came to pass, that he drew near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven.


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 And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened he saw nothing, and they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.


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 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias. And he said: I am here, Lord.


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 And the Lord said to him: Arise and go to the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For he prays,


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 and he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.


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 But Ananias answered: Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem,


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 But the Lord said to him: Go your way. For he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.


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 And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him, said: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road upon which you travelled, has sent me, that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.


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 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized.


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 And he took food and was strengthened, and was several days with the disciples that were at Damascus. 


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 And all that heard him were amazed, and said: Is this not he that in Jerusalem made havoc of those that called on this name? And he had come here for this intent, that he might bring them bound before the chief priests.


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 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews that dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the real Christ.


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 But their plot became known to Saul; and they watched the gates day and night that they might kill him.


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 And when he came to Jerusalem, he decided to attach himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.


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 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.


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 preaching boldly in the name of the Lord; and he spoke and disputed against the Greek speaking Jews, and they that were seeking to kill him.


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 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 


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 And it came to pass, as Peter went throughout all regions, he came also to the saints that dwelt at Lydda.


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 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralyzed.


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 And Peter said to him: Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. And immediately he rose.


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 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds.


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 And it came to pass in those days, that she fell sick and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.


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 And as Lydda was near to Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him: Come to us without delay.


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 And Peter rose and went with them. And when he had arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood by him, weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made, while she was with them.


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 But Peter sent them out, and kneeled down and prayed; and turning to the body, he said: Tabitha, rise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.


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 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.


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 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Regiment,


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 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much charity to the Jewish people and prayed to God always.


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 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God, who came to him and said: Cornelius.


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 And he, fastening his eyes upon him and being afraid, said: What is it, Lord? And he said to him: Your prayers and your charity have gone up as a memorial before God.


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 And when the angel that spoke to him had departed, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of them that served him continually.


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 Now the next day, as they were on their journey, and drew near to the city, about the sixth hour, Peter went upon the housetop to pray.


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 And he became hungry and desired to eat, but while they made the food ready, he fell into a trance.


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 And he saw the heaven open and a certain vessel descending, as if it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth,


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 wherein were all manner of fourfooted animals, and creeping things of the earth and birds of the sky.


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 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men that had been sent by Cornelius, having made enquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate,


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 And they said: Cornelius a centurion, a righteous man and one that fears God, and who is praised by all the nation of the Jews, was instructed by a holy angel of God to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.


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 So he called them in and lodged them. And the next day he arose and went with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.


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 And the next day they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends.


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 And when it happened that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and did homage to him.


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 And he said to them: You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation; and yet to me God has shown that I should not call anyone common or unclean.


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 Therefore also I came without objection, when I was sent for. Therefore, I ask with what intent did you send for me.


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 And Cornelius said: Four days ago, about this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house, and a man stood before me in bright apparel,


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 and said: Cornelius, your prayer is heard and your charitable acts are held in remembrance in the sight of God.


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 Therefore, send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter. He lodges in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea side.


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 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Therefore, now we are all here in the presence of God, to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord to say.


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 The word which He sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he being Lord of all!),


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 that message you yourselves know, which was published throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached-


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 about Jesus of Nazareth. How God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the Devil. For God was with him.


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 And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Whom also they slew, hanging him on a tree.


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 not to all the people, but to witnesses that were chosen before by God, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.


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 And he ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.


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 To him all the prophets bear witness- that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.


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 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.


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 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. 


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 Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.


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 And when Peter had arrived in Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision criticized him, saying:


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 I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down even to me.


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 Looking at it closely, I saw the fourfooted beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the sky.


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 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.


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 And he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying: Send to Joppa and fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter,


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 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said that John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.


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 If then God gave to these the same gift as He also gave to us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could oppose God?


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 And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying: Then to the Gentiles also has God granted repentance to life. 


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 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.


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 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they reached Antioch, spoke to the Gentiles also, preaching the Lord Jesus.


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 And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.


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 Who, when he had arrived and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he encouraged them all, that with purpose of heart they should cleave to the Lord.


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 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and many people were added to the Lord.


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 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that for a whole year they were gathered together with the church and taught many people; and there, in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.


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 And one of them, named Agabus, stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. This took place in the days of Claudius.


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 And the disciples, every man according to his ability, decided to send relief to the believers that lived in Judea.


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 And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. And those were the days of unleavened bread.


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 And when he had taken him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.


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 Therefore Peter was kept in the prison; but earnest prayer was offered to God for him by the church.


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 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards before the door were guarding the prison.


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 And an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying: Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.


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 And the angel said to him: Dress yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.


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 And he went out and followed; and he did not perceive that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he was seeing a vision.


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 And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city. This opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel departed from him.


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 And when Peter came to himself, he said: Now I know of a truth, that the Lord has sent his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all that the Jews were expecting.


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 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark. There many were gathered together and were praying.


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 And when she recognised Peter's voice, she did not open the gate, but in joy ran inside and told everyone that Peter stood before the gate.


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 And they said to her: You are mad. But she confidently affirmed that it was so. And they said: It is his angel.


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 But he, motioning with the hand to hold their peace, declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said: Tell these things to James and to the brothers. And he departed and went to another place.


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 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small anxiety among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.


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 And when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 


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 Now Herod was highly displeased with those at Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was fed from the king's country.


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 And upon a set day, Herod dressed himself in royal apparel and sat on the throne and delivered an oration to them.


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 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.


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 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had completed their service, taking with them John whose surname was Mark. 


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 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.


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 And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said: Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them.


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 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.


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 And when they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; they had also John to assist them.


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 And when they had gone through the whole island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus,


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 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. The same summoned Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God.


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 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.


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 and said: You son of the Devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and all villainy, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?


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 And now, the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand.


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 Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.


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 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.


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 But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia; and they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.


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 And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent for them, saying: Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, speak.


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 And Paul stood up and beckoning with the hand, said: Men of Israel and you that fear God, listen. Paul's Sermon at Antioch 


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 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm He led them out of it.


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 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years.


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 And afterwards they asked for a king; and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space of forty years.


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 And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, to whom also He bare witness and said: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who shall do all My will.


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 after John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.


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 And as John was fulfilling his ministry, he said: Who do you suppose I am? I am not he! But look, there comes one after me the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.


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 Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us is the word of this salvation sent.


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 For they that dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.


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 And when they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.


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 And he was seen for many days by those that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.


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 that God has fulfilled the same to our children, in that He resurrected Jesus. As also it is written in the second Psalm: You are My Son, this day have I begotten you.


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 And as for the fact that He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.


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 For David, after he had in his own generation served the will of God, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption.


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 Therefore, be it known to you, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you the remission of sins.


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 And through him, everyone that believes is declared righteous in all things in which the law of Moses could not declare you righteous.


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 Behold you despisers, wonder and perish. For I work a work in your days, a work which you shall in no way believe, even if someone declares it to you. 


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 Now when the meeting of the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.


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 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul and blasphemed.


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 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said: It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.


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 For so has the Lord commanded us: I have set you for a light of the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost part of the earth.


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 And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.


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 But the Jews incited the religious women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.


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 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.


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 Therefore they stayed there for a long time speaking boldly in the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.


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 And when there was an attempt by the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to treat them shamefully and to stone them,


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 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region.


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 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled since birth and had never walked.


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 The same listened to Paul speaking. Paul looked at him intently and perceiving that he had faith to be made whole,


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 And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the language of Lycaonia: The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!


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 And the priest of Jupiter, whose temple was before the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and would have done sacrifice with the crowds.


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 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran in among the crowd, crying out and saying:


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 Sirs, why do you these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.


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 and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave you rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.


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 But there came Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.


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 But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered into the city, and the next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe.


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 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,


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 confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.


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 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.


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 And from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.


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 And when they had come and had gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done through them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.


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 But some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers: Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.


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 And Paul and Barnabas argued and debated with them; consequently Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders to resolve this question.


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 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the believers.


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 And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all things that God had done through them.


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 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying: It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.


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 And when there had been much debate, Peter rose up and said to them: Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.


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 And God, who knows the heart, did bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did to us.


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 Therefore, why do you now put God to the test, putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?


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 But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as them.


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 And all the crowd kept silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul relating what signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.


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 After these things I will return, and I will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen, and I will build again the ruins of it, and I will raise it up;


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 so that the residue of mankind may seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,


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 but that we write to them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood.


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 For Moses from generations of old has in every city those that preach him, he being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. 


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 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers.


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 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and the elders, brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting.


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 Forasmuch as we have heard that some who went out from us have disturbed you with words, subverting you, to whom we gave no commandment,


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 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to select men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,


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 Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth.


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 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:


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 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled and from fornication. From which if you keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Farewell.


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 So they, when they were sent off, went to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.


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 And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, encouraged and strengthened the believers with many words.


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 And after they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brothers back to those that had sent them.


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 And Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 


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 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas: Let us return now and visit the believers in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they fare.


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 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.


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 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus;


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 And he went also to Derbe and to Lystra; and a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek.


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 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.


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 And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which had been determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.


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 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.


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 And when they came to the border of Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.


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 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, urging him and saying: Come into Macedonia and help us!


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 And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 


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 Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace and the day following to Neapolis,


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 and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony; and we stayed in this city for some days.


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 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by a river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women that had gathered.


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 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things which were spoken by Paul.


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 And when she was baptized, and her household, she urged us, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. So she persuaded us.


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 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain slave girl met us, who had a spirit by which she predicted the future and who brought her masters much gain by fortune-telling.


text:
 The same following after Paul and us was crying out, saying: These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation!


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 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being greatly disturbed by it, turned and said to the spirit: I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very moment.


text:
 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,


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 and when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said: These men, being Jews, are disturbing our city,


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 And the crowd rose up together against them; and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.


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 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailor to guard them carefully.


text:
 But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God; and the prisoners were listening to them.


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 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened.


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 And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.


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 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas,


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 And at that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.


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 And he brought them into his house, set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his family, having believed in God.


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 And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying: The magistrates have sent word to let you go. Therefore come out and go in peace.


text:
 But Paul said to them: They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men that are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison, and now they want to throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and bring us out.


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 And the officers reported these words to the magistrates; and they feared when they heard that they were Romans.


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 And they came and pleaded with them, and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.


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 And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the believers, they comforted them and departed. 


text:
 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.


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 And Paul, as his custom was, went in to them for three Sabbath days and reasoned with them from the Scriptures,


text:
 explaining and proving that it was necessary that the Christ suffer and rise from the dead, saying: This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.


text:
 And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, as did many of the devout Greeks; and not a few of the chief women.


text:
 But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, taking along some wicked men from the market place and having assembled a mob, set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people.


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 And when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the rulers of the city, crying: These that have turned the world upside down have come here also.


text:
 Jason has received them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.


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 And the brother immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea; who when they arrived there, went into the synagogue of the Jews.


text:
 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.


text:
 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there, likewise stirring up and inciting the crowds.


text:
 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.


text:
 But they that escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy (that they should came to him with all speed), they departed. 


text:
 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.


text:
 So he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the religious persons, and in the marketplace every day with those that met him.


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 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. And some said: What will this babbler say? Others: He seems to be a preacher of strange gods! Because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.


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 And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying: May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?


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 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. Therefore, we would like to know what these things mean.


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 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing).


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 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said: You men of Athens, I perceive you are very religious in all things.


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 For as I walked along, I observed the objects of your worship; and I found an altar with this inscription: To the unknown god. Whom you worship in ignorance, Him I proclaim to you.


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 The God that made the world and all things therein, He, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands.


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 Neither is He served by men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He gives to all life and breath and all things.


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 And He has made from one, every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times set for them and the bounds of their habitation,


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 that they should seek God; so that they might feel after Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.


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 For in Him we live and move and have our being- as some even of your own poets have said: For we are also his offspring.


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 Being then the offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine is like gold, or silver, or stone, something crafted by art and the imagination of man.


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 Therefore, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands men that they should all everywhere repent.


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 Inasmuch as He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained; of which He has given assurance to all men, in that He has raised him from the dead.


text:
 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said: We will hear you concerning this yet again.


text:
 But some people joined him and believed, among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 


text:
 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome; and he went to them.


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 And because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they worked together, for by trade they were tentmakers.


text:
 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.


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 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them: Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.


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 And he departed from there, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshiped God, whose house was attached to the synagogue.


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 And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his family; and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.


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 And during the night in a vision, the Lord said to Paul: Do not be afraid, but speak out and do not keep silent.


text:
 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,


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 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews: If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of criminal villainy, O you Jews, it would be logical that I should bear with you.


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 But if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these matters.


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 And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.


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 And Paul, having stayed after this for many days, took his leave of the believers, and with Priscilla and Aquila sailed to Syria, having shorn his head in Cenchrea. For he had made a vow.


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 And they came to Ephesus; and he left them there, but he entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.


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 but took his leave of them, saying: I will return again to you if God wills. He then set sail from Ephesus.


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 And having spent some time there, he departed and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, in that order, strengthening all the disciples. 


text:
 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.


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 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.


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 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.


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 And when he decided to go into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he helped them who through grace had believed.


text:
 Rebaptizing Some of John the Baptist's Converts And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found some disciples.


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 And he said to them: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him: No. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.


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 And Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.


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 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.


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 And he entered into the synagogue and spoke boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.


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 But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the crowd, he departed from them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.


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 And this continued for the space of two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles.


text:
 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and their mental illnesses were cured.


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 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had manic illnesses, saying: I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.


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 Then the man who had the mania jumped on them and subdued and overpowered all of them, so they fled out of that house naked and wounded.


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 And this became known to all that dwelt at Ephesus, both Jews and Gentiles; and fear fell upon them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.


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 And not a few of those that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.


text:
 When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go up to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying: After I have been there, I must also see Rome.


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 And having sent into Macedonia two of those that assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he stayed in Asia for a while.


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 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business to the craftsmen.


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 He gathered them together, with the workmen of similar occupation, and said: Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth,


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 and you see and hear, that not only at Ephesus but throughout most of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and led astray many people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands.


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 And not only is there a danger that this our trade will come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be made of no account, and that she whom all Asia and the world worships should even be deposed from her magnificence.


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 And when they heard this, they were filled with anger and cried out, saying: Great is Diana of Ephesus!


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 And the city was filled with confusion; and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.


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 And some also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent word to him, pleading that he not venture into the theatre.


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 Therefore, some cried one thing and some another. For the assembly was in confusion and most did not know why they had come together.


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 And they brought Alexander out of the crowd, the Jews putting him forward; and Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence to the people;


text:
 but when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out: Great is Diana of the Ephesians!


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 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: You men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?


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 For you have brought here these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.


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 Therefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen that are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse one another.


text:
 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.


text:
 And after the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.


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 And when he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came into Greece.


text:
 There he spent three months; but as he was about to set sail for Syria, he was informed that the Jews planned to ambush him, so he decided to return through Macedonia.


text:
 Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus from Berea, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.


text:
 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread; and in five days came to those at Troas, where we stayed seven days.


text:
 And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart the next day; and prolonged his speech until midnight.


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 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep, and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.


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 But Paul went down and bent over him, and embracing him, said: Don't be alarmed. For his life is in him.


text:
 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.


text:
 But going ahead to the ship we set sail for Assos, there intending to pick up Paul. For so had he arranged, he intending to go by land.


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 And sailing from there, the following day we arrived off Kios, the next day we crossed over to Samos and the day after we came to Miletus.


text:
 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia. For he was in a hurry, hoping to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.


text:
 And when they had come to him, he said to them: You know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time,


text:
 serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews.


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 You know how I did not hesitate to declare to you anything that was helpful, and taught you in public, and from house to house,


text:
 testifying both to Jews and to Gentiles repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.


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 Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that imprisonments and afflictions await me.


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 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my race, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.


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 And now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will see my face again.


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 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.


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 I know that after my departing, fierce wolves shall enter in among you and will not spare the flock.


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 And from among you, men shall arise speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.


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 Therefore be alert, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears.


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 And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those that are sanctified.


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 You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.


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 In all things I gave you an example, that so labouring you should help the weak, and to remember the words that the Lord Jesus spoke, saying: It is more blessed to give than to receive.


text:
 being sorrowful most of all because of his statement, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. 


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 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.


text:
 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo.


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 And having found the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and these said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not set foot in Jerusalem.


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 When our time was up, we departed and went on our way, and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, until we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.


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 And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them one day.


text:
 And the next day we departed, and went to Caesarea, and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.


text:
 And coming to us and taking Paul's belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said: Thus said the Holy Spirit: So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this belt, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.


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 And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.


text:
 Then Paul answered: What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.


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 And there went with us also some of the disciples from Caesarea, bringing with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.


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 And when he had greeted them, he related one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.


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 And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said to him: You saw, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those that have believed; and they are all zealous for the law.


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 And they have been informed concerning you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to our customs.


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 These take and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses, that they may shave their heads; and all shall know that there is no truth in the things of which they have been informed concerning you, but you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the law.


text:
 But concerning the Gentiles that have believed, we wrote, giving judgment that they should keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.


text:
 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple, declaring the fulfilment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.


text:
 And when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the crowd and laid hands on him,


text:
 crying out: Men of Israel, help! This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law, and this place, and moreover he brought Gentiles also into the temple and has defiled this holy place.


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 For they had previously seen with him in the city Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.


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 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together, laid hold on Paul and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.


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 And as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the chief captain of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.


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 And he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and they, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, stopped beating Paul.


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 Then the chief captain came near, laid hold of him and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he had done.


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 And some among the mob shouted one thing, some another; and when he could not know the certainty because of the uproar, he commanded him to be brought into the fortress of Antonia.


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 When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.


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 And as Paul was about to be brought into the fortress, he said to the chief captain: May I say something to you? And he said: Do you know Greek?


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 Are you not that Egyptian, who some time ago stirred up sedition and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were terrorists?


text:
 But Paul said: I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I beg you, please let me speak to the people.


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 And when he had given him leave, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with the hand to the people; and when there was made a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying:


text:
 Paul's Defence to the Jerusalem Jews Brothers and fathers, hear the defence which I now make to you.


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 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet; and he said:


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 I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day.


text:
 as also the high priest does bear me witness, and all the council of the elders. From whom also I received letters to the brothers and journeyed to Damascus, to bring them also that were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.


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 And it came to pass, that as I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.


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 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, but they did not understand the voice of him that spoke to me.


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 And I said: What shall I do Lord? And the Lord said to me: Arise and go into Damascus, and there you shall be told all things which are appointed for you to do.


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 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those that were with me, I came into Damascus.


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 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there,


text:
 came to me; and standing by me, he said to me: Brother Saul, receive your sight. And in that very moment I looked upon him.


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 And he said: The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth.


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 And it came to pass, that when I had returned to Jerusalem and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance,


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 and saw him saying to me: Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not welcome your testimony concerning me.


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 And I said: Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those that believed in you;


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 and when the blood of Stephen your witness was shed, I also was standing by and approved, and guarded the robes of those that slew him.


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 And they listened until this word, and then they lifted up their voice and said: Away with such a fellow from the earth! For it is not fitting that he should live.


text:
 the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the fortress, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause they so shouted against him.


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 And when they had tied him up with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion that stood by: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?


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 And when the centurion heard it, he went to the chief captain and told him, saying: What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.


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 And the chief captain answered: With a great sum of money I obtained this citizenship. And Paul said: But I am Roman born.


text:
 Then those that were about to torture him withdrew from him immediately; and the chief captain also was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, because he had bound him.


text:
 But the next day, desiring to know with certainty why he was accused by the Jews, he released him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them. 


text:
 Paul's Defence Before the High Priest And Paul looked straight at the council, and said: Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day.


text:
 Then Paul said to him: God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?


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 And Paul said: I did not recognize, brothers, that he was high priest. For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.


text:
 But when Paul noticed that one part was Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council: Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee! Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.


text:
 And when he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.


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 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees believe in both.


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 And there arose a great clamour; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees stood up and argued, saying: We find no evil in this man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?


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 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the fortress.


text:
 And the following night the Lord stood by him, and said: Take courage, for as you have testified concerning me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome. 


text:
 And when it was day, the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.


text:
 And they came to the chief priests and the elders, and said: We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.


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 Now then, you with the council petition the chief captain to bring him down to you, as though you would judge his case more exactly; and we, before he comes near, will be ready to slay him.


text:
 But Paul's sister's son heard of their ambush, and he went and entered into the fortress and told Paul.


text:
 And Paul summoned one of the centurions, and said: Take this young man to the chief captain; for he has something to tell him.


text:
 So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said: Paul the prisoner summoned me, and asked me to bring this young man, who has something to say to you.


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 And the chief captain took him by the hand, and taking him aside asked him privately: What is it you have to tell me?


text:
 He said: The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him.


text:
 But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for your consent to their request.


text:
 So the chief captain let the young man go, ordering him: Tell no one you have told these things to me.


text:
 And he summoned two of the centurions and said: Make ready two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, at the third hour of the night.


text:
 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, when I intervened with soldiers and rescued him, having learnt that he was a Roman.


text:
 I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or imprisonment.


text:
 And when it was told that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you, ordering his accusers also to speak against him before you.


text:
 And they, when they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, presented Paul also before him.


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 And when he had read it, he asked of what province he was; and when he understood that he was of Cilicia, he said:


text:
 I will hear you fully when your accusers also have come; and he commanded him to be kept in Herod's palace. 


text:
 And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus; and these gave evidence to the governor against Paul.


text:
 And when he was called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: Seeing that by you we enjoy much peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,


text:
 But, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.


text:
 For we have found this man to be a plague, and a mover of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,


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 who moreover tried to profane the temple. We laid hold on him, and we would have judged him according to our law.


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 commanding his accusers to come before you.You will be able, by examining him yourself, to gain knowledge of all these things of which we accuse him.


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 And when the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul answered: Inasmuch as I do know you have been for many years a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defence.


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 And neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city did they find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd.


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 But this I confess to you, that after the Way, which they call a sect, I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets;


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 having hope toward God, which these people also look for, that there shall be a resurrection, both of the just and unjust.


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 Whilst doing this, they found me purified in the temple, with no crowd, nor with uproar; but there were certain Jews from Asia,


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 except it be for one statement that I cried standing among them: Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am called in question before you this day.


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 But Felix, having more accurate knowledge concerning the Way, adjourned the proceedings, saying: When Lysias the chief captain shall come, I will decide your case.


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 Then he gave orders to the centurion, that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty; and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.


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 But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.


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 And as he reasoned about righteousness, self control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid, and answered: Go away for now. When I have a convenient time I will call for you.


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 He hoped meanwhile that money would be given to him by Paul. Therefore, he sent for him more often and conversed with him.


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 But after two years, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and desiring to gain favour with the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison. 


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 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews presented the charges against Paul; and they petitioned him,


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 asking a favour against Paul, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.


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 However Festus answered that Paul should be kept in custody at Caesarea, and that he intended to go there soon.


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 Therefore, said he, let those that have authority among you come with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, let them accuse him.


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 And when he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went to Caesarea; and the next day he sat on the judgment seat and commanded Paul to be brought.


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 And when he had arrived, the Jews that had come from Jerusalem stood round him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove;


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 while Paul said in his defence: Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all.


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 But Festus, desiring to gain favour with the Jews, answered Paul and said: Will you go up to Jerusalem and there be judged of these things before me?


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 But Paul said: I am standing before Caesar's judgment seat, where I should be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong, as you also very well know.


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 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying, but if none of these things are true of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.


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 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered: You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar shall you go.


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 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the King and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.


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 And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the King, saying: There is a certain man left as a prisoner by Felix,


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 about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, asking for sentence against him.


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 To whom I answered that it is not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone, before the accused has the accusers face to face, and has had opportunity to make his defence concerning the matter charged against him.


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 Therefore, when they gathered here, I did not delay, and the next day sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought;


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 concerning whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no charge of such evil things as I supposed.


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 Rather they had certain questions against him of their own religion and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.


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 And I, being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, asked whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters.


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 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the Emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I should send him to Caesar.


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 And Agrippa said to Festus: I also would like to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, you shall hear him.


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 So the next day, when Agrippa had arrived and Bernice, with great pomp, they entered into the place of hearing with the chief captains and principal men of the city; and at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.


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 And Festus said: King Agrippa and all men who are here present with us, you see this man, about whom all the crowd of the Jews made appeal to me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he should not live any longer.


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 But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and as he appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him.


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 But I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore, I have brought him before you all, and especially before you King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write.


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 Paul's Defence Before Agrippa And Agrippa said to Paul: You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defence.


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 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before you this day concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews;


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 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore, I beg that you hear me patiently.


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 My manner of life from my youth, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem, do all the Jews know;


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 having knowledge of me from the first (if they are willing to admit it) that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.


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 to which our twelve tribes earnestly serve night and day, hoping to attain the promises. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king!


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 And this I did in Jerusalem, and I shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.


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 And in all the synagogues I often punished them, trying to force them to blaspheme, and being furiously enraged at them, I persecuted them even in foreign cities.


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 but at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those that journeyed with me.


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 And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the cattle prod.


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 But arise, and stand upon your feet. For to this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things in which you have seen me, and of the things which I will reveal to you.


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 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; to the end they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those that are sanctified by faith in me.


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 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to their repentance.


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 Therefore, having obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should happen:


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 That the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.


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 And as he thus made his defence, Festus said with a loud voice: Paul, you are mad. Your much learning is turning you mad.


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 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him. For this has not been done in a corner.


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 And Paul said: I will pray to God, that whether in a little time or a longer time, not you only, but also all that hear me this day might become as I am (apart from these chains).


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 And when they had withdrawn, they spoke to each other, saying: This man does nothing worthy of death or of imprisonment.


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 And Agrippa said to Festus: This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Caesar. 


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 Paul's Journey to Rome And when it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan Regiment.


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 And embarking in a ship from Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.


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 And the next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go to his friends and refresh himself.


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 And when we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.


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 And when we had sailed slowly many days and had come with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.


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 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them


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 and said to them: Gentlemen, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.


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 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship, than to those things which were spoken by Paul.


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 And because the harbour was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbour of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and to winter there.


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 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close inshore. 


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 And when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.


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 And running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the skiff.


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 And when they had hoisted it up, they used supports to undergird the ship; and fearing that they would be cast upon the Syrtis sandbar, they lowered the sail and so were driven by the wind.


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 And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away.


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 And after they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood in the midst of them and said: Gentlemen, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete and gained this injury and loss.


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 And now I encourage you to be of good courage. For there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.


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 saying: Fear not Paul. You must stand before Caesar; and God has granted you the lives of all those who sail with you.


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 Therefore gentlemen, be of good courage. For I believe God, that it shall be even as it has been spoken to me.


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 But when the fourteenth night had arrived, as we were driven to and fro in the sea of Adria, about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near to some land.


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 And they sounded and found thirty meters; and after a little space, they sounded again and found twenty five meters.


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 And fearing that we should run aground on the rocks, they let go four anchors from the stern and wished for daylight.


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 And as the sailors were seeking to abandon the ship and had lowered the skiff into the sea, under pretence that they would lay out anchors from the foreship,


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 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers: Except these stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.


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 And while the day was dawning, Paul pleaded with them all to take some food, saying: This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having eaten nothing.


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 Therefore, I beg you to take some food. For this is for your health; for not a hair shall perish from the head of any of you.


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 And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.


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 And when it was day, they did not recognise the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, and they took counsel whether they could drive the ship upon it.


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 And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders; and hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.


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 But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.


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 But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that they who could swim should throw themselves overboard first and get to land;


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 and then the rest, some on planks and some on other things from the ship. And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safely to land. 


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 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.


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 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself onto his hand.


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 And when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other: No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not permitted to live.


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 But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly; but when they had waited a long time in expectation and saw nothing amiss came to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.


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 Now in the neighbourhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.


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 And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. Paul came in to him and prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him.


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 They also honoured us with many honours; and when we sailed away, they put on board such things as we needed. 


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 And after three months we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered on the island, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.


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 and from there, we circled round and arrived at Rhegium; and after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli,


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 where we found believers and were encouraged to stay with them seven days. And so we came towards Rome.


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 And from there the brothers, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. Whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.


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 And when we entered into Rome, Paul was permitted to live by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.


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 And it came to pass, that after three days he called together those that were the leaders of the Jews; and when they came together, he said to them: Brothers, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.


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 Who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause for putting me to death.


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 But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar. Not that I had something of which to accuse my nation.


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 Therefore, for this reason did I request you see me and speak with me. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.


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 And they said to him: We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you.


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 But we desire to hear of you what you think. For as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.


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 And when they had appointed him a day, they came to him into his lodging in great number. To whom he expounded the matter, testifying of the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.


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 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed; after Paul had made this final statement: The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying:


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 Go to this people and say, By hearing you shall hear and shall in no way understand, and seeing you shall see and shall in no way perceive.


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 For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart; and should repent, and I should heal them.


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 Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles; and they will hear.


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 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, no one forbidding him.


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 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.


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 He said: Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither. 


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;


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 I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, says Yahweh.


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom;


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 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord Yahweh.


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not relent on its punishment; because they delivered up the whole community to Edom, and didn't remember the brotherly covenant;


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his anger forever;


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.


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 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind;


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;


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 but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will destroy the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;


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 and I will cut off the judge from their midst, and will kill all their princes with him, says Yahweh.


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected Yahweh's law, and have not kept His statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;


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 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;


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 they trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same girl, to profane My holy name;


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 and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of the condemned.


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 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.


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 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.


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 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn't this true, you children of Israel? says Yahweh.


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 Flight will flee from the swift; and the strong won't strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;


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 neither shall he stand who handles the bow; and he who is swift of foot won't escape; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;


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 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:


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 You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.


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 Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?


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 Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?


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 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city and Yahweh hasn't done it?


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 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless He first reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.


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 Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.


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 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.


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 Thus says Yahweh: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.


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 For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.


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 I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end, says Yahweh.


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 Listen to this word you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, Bring us drinks!


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 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by His holiness that, behold, the days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.


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 You will go out at the breaks in the wall, each one straight before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon, says Yahweh.


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 Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,


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 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings and brag about them: for this pleases you, you children of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.


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 I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven't returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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 I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn't rain withered.


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 So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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 I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven't returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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 I sent plagues among you like I did upon Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you haven't returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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 I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven't returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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 Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.


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 For, behold, He who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is His name.


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 The virgin of Israel has fallen; she shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up.


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 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.


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 but don't seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don't pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.


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 Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.


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 seek Him who made the Pleiades and Orion, He who turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is His name;


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 Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes of wheat from him- therefore you who have built houses of cut stone will not dwell in them. You who have planted pleasant vineyards shall not drink their wine.


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 For I know how many are your offences, and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the courts.


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 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.


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 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.


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 Therefore thus says Yahweh the God of Armies, the Lord: Wailing will be in all the boulevards; and they will say in all the streets, "Alas! Alas!', and they will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing.


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 Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness for you, and not light.


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 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.


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 Won't the day of Yahweh be darkness for you, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?


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 Yes, though you offer Me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.


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 Did you really bring to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?


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 You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.


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 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.


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 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!


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 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their border greater than your border?


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 who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;


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 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David did;


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 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.


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 Therefore they will now go into captivity with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.


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 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by Himself, says Yahweh, the God of Armies, that I hate the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.


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 When a man's relative carries his body out of the house to burn it, he will ask him who is in the innermost parts of the house: "Is there yet any with you?'. And if he says, "No', then he will say, "Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh'.


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 For behold, Yahweh says it, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.


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 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plough there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;


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 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, "Haven't we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?'.


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 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Yahweh, the God of Armies; and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.


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 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's harvest.


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 It happened that when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beseech You! How could Jacob stand? For he is so small.


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 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.


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 Thus he showed me: Behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.


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 Yahweh said to me, Amos, what do you see? I said, A plumb line. Then the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will not again change My mind about punishing them.


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 The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.


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 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.


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 For Amos says, "Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land'.


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 Amaziah also said to Amos, You prophet, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:


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 but don't prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house!


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 Then Amos answered Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore figs;


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 and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, "Go, prophesy to My people Israel'.


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 Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh: "You say, Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the house of Isaac'.


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 Therefore thus says Yahweh: "Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land'.


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 He said, Amos, what do you see? I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then Yahweh said to me, The end has come on My people Israel. I will not again change My mind about them any more.


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 The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day, says the Lord Yahweh. The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out in silence.


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 saying, "Oh when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;


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 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings along with the wheat?'.


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 Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.


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 It will happen in that day, says the Lord Yahweh, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the day time.


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 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.


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 Behold, the days come, says the Lord Yahweh, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh.


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 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, and will not find it.


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 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, "As your god, Dan, lives;' and, "As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall, and never rise up again.


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 God's People to Be Destroyed I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.


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 Though they dig into Sheol, there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to the sky, I will bring them down from there.


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 Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out from there; and though they be hidden from My sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.


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 Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set My eyes on them for evil, and not for good.


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 For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is He who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.


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 It is He who builds His chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vault on the earth; He who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is His name.


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 Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to Me, you children of Israel?, says Yahweh. Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?


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 See, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says Yahweh.


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 For, see, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall to the earth.


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 All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, those who say, "Evil won't overtake us nor meet us'. 


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 After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it as in the days of old;


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 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who makes these things known from of old.


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 See, the days come, says Yahweh, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.


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 I will bring My people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit.


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 I will plant them in their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, says Yahweh your God.


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 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ that are at Colosse. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's Prayer for the Colossians 


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 We thank God because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.


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 That Gospel is come to you, even as it has also come to all the world, bearing fruit and increasing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.


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 Even as you learned it of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf;


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 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,


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 to walk worthily in the Lord fully pleasing him, bearing fruit in every good work; increasing in the knowledge of God,


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 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, to all patience and endurance, with joy;


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 giving thanks to the Father, who made us suitable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.


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 Who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love;


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 For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created on account of him and for him.


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 And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; so that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.


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 and through him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross- yes, to reconcile all things through him, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. The Context of Paul's Preaching 


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 yet now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him.


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 If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to all creation under heaven. Of which I Paul was made a servant,


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 who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.


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 Of which I was made a servant, according to the plan of God which was given me concerning you, to fulfil the word of God,


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 the mystery of which has been hid for ages and generations; but now has it been manifested to His saints,


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 to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles- which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.


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 We proclaim him, encouraging every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.


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 For I would have you know how greatly I strive for you and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,


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 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love; and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God as it is in Christ.


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 For though I am absent in the flesh, I am still with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.


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 rooted and up built in him and established in your faith, even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.


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 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.


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 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. 


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 Having been buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.


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 And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.


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 Having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, Christ did away with it by nailing it to the cross.


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 Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 


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 Let no one therefore judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day.


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 Let no one rob you of your prize by a false humility and worshiping of the angels, keeping on about all the things which he has supposedly seen in visions, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,


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 and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God.


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 If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances?


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 Which things have indeed a false appearance of wisdom in worship and humility and severity to the body, but are not of any real value against stopping the indulgence of the flesh. 


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 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.


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 Therefore, put to death what is earthly in you: Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry.


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 But now you are to also put away: Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.


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 where there cannot be Gentile and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman- but Christ is all and in all.


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 Therefore, as God's elect and beloved, put on sensitivity, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;


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 forbearing one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as the Lord forgave you, so also forgive.


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 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts- to this you were also called in one body; and be thankful.


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 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. In all wisdom teach and encourage one another with Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs- singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.


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 And whatever you do, in word or in action, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 


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 Servants, obey in all things those that are your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.


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 Knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.


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 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for preaching the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for the sake of which I am also in chains.


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 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. 


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 All my affairs shall Tychicus make known to you, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord,


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 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state and that he may comfort your hearts.


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 Together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you, they shall make known to you all things that are done here.


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 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),


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 and Jesus who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow-workers to the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort to me.


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 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.


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 For I bear witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and for those in Hierapolis.


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 And when this letter has been read among you, take steps to have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and you also read the letter from Laodicea.


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 And say to Archippus: Take heed to the service which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfil it.


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 Daniel's Babylonian Education In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.


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 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.


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 The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the Israelites, those of the seed royal and of the nobles;


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 youths in whom was no blemish, but handsome, well educated, knowledgeable, understanding science, and such as had the ability to stand in the king's palace; that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.


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 The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be trained for three years; that at its end they should stand before the king.


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 The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.


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 But Daniel determined not to defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.


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 The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? Do you really want to endanger my head with the king?


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 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:


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 Test your servants, I beg you, for ten days; let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink.


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 Then let our faces be looked on before you, and the faces of the youths who eat of the king's dainties; and as you see, deal with your servants.


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 At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king's dainties.


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 So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them vegetables.


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 Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.


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 At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.


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 The king talked with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore they served the king.


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 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his kingdom.


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 King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.


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 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.


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 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.


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 The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you don't make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a compost heap.


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 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.


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 They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.


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 The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me.


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 But if you don't tell me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.


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 The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king's matter, because no king, lord or ruler has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter or Chaldean.


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 It is an unusual thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.


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 Therefore the king was angry and very furious, and he commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.


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 So the decree went forth that all the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain. 


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 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon;


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 he answered Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.


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 Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.


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 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; so that Daniel and his companions should not die with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.


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 Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.


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 He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings, and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;


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 He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.


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 I thank You, and praise You, You God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has now made known to me what we desired of You; for You have made known to us the king's matter.


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 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon and said this: Don't destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.


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 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said: I have found a man among the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.


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 The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?


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 Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king;


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 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these: 


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 As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind on your bed, what should happen in the future; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall happen.


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 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.


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 You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its aspect was awesome.


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 As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,


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 You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.


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 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.


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 You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory.


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 Wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has He given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.


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 After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and then a third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the land.


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 The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.


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 Then you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, that shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.


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 As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.


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 Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.


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 In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; it shall crush to powder and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.


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 As you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.


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 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet incense to him.


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 The king responded to Daniel and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.


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 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.


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 Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.


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 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.


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 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.


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 Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.


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 that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;


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 and whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.


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 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.


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 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;


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 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you. They don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.


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 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.


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 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?


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 Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?


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 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.


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 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.


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 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.


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 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and his face changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.


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 He commanded mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to throw them into the burning fiery furnace.


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 Then these men were bound in their trousers, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other garments, and were thrown into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.


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 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.


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 These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.


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 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counsellors, Didn't we throw three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, True, O king.


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 He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.


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 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire.


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 The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their clothes changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.


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 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, these who have set aside the king's command, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.


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 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a compost heap; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.


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 Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.


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 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me.


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 How great are His signs! How mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.


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 I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.


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 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might explain to me the interpretation of the dream.


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 Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not explain to me its interpretation.


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 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying,


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 Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.


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 Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and its height was great.


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 The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth.


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 The leaves of it were beautiful, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all: the animals of the field had their shadow under it, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.


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 I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from Heaven.


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 He cried aloud, and said thus: Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the animals get away from under it, and the birds from its branches.


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 Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth:


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 let his heart be changed from man's, and let an animal's heart be given to him; and let seven times pass over him.


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 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the judgment decision by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will, and sets up over it the most abased of men.


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 This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in you. The Dream's Interpretation 


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 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken mute for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered, Belteshazzar, don't let the dream, or the interpretation, trouble you. Belteshazzar answered, My lord, the dream is to the side of those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries.


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 The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to the sky, and its view to all the earth;


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 whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and under whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation:


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 it is you, O king, that has grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.


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 Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from Heaven and saying, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him;


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 this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come on my lord the king:


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 that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.


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 Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you shall have known that the Heavens do rule.


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 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of your prosperity. 


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 The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?


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 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from Heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you:


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 and you shall be driven from men; and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field; you shall be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.


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 The same hour was the thing fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.


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 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation.


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 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or ask Him, What are You doing?


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 At the same time my understanding returned to me; and the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned to me; and my officials and my lords sought to me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added to me.


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 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven; for all His works are truth, and His ways justice; and those who walk in pride He is able to abase.


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 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.


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 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.


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 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of God's house which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.


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 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.


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 In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.


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 Then the king's appearance changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.


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 The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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 Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor reveal to the king the interpretation.


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 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his appearance was changed, and his lords were perplexed.


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 Now the queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever; don't let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your appearance be changed.


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 There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. The king Nebuchadnezzar your father, the king, I say, your father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;


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 because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, the interpreting of dreams, and revealing of strange messages, solving of problems and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. 


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 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?


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 I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.


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 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and tell me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.


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 But I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations, and dissolve problems; now if you can read the writing, and tell me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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 Then Daniel answered before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and tell him the interpretation.


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 As for you, O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:


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 and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.


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 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he became proud, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:


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 and he was driven from men, and his heart was made like an animal's', and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that He sets up over it whomsoever He will.


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 but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don't see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.


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 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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 Daniel in the Lions' Den It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom;


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 and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one; so that these satraps might give account to them, and that the king should have no loss.


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 Then Daniel was promoted above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellently wise spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole kingdom.


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 Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel regarding the things of the kingdom; but they could find no case nor fault, because he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.


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 Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.


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 Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said to him, King Darius, live forever.


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 All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted together in order to establish a royal statute, and to make an enforced decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.


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 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.


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 When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he still went into his house (now his windows in his room were open toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did previously.


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 Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.


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 Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree: Haven't you signed a decree, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered, That is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.


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 Then they responded and said to the king, That Daniel, who is of the captives of Judah, doesn't respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.


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 Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to save him; and he struggled until the going down of the sun to save him.


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 Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.


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 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.


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 A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet ring of his lords; so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.


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 Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no musical instruments were brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.


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 When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spoke and said to Daniel: Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?


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 My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not destroyed me; because before Him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done nothing wrong.


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 Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.


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 The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.


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 Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.


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 I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and His dominion shall remain to the end.


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 He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, He who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.


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 Four Beasts In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream on his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the conclusion of the matters.


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 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my dream and, behold, the four winds of Heaven broke forth upon the great sea.


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 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I saw until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it.


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 Behold, another beast, a second, like a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh.


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 After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.


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 After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, awesome and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that preceded it; and it had ten horns.


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 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.


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 I saw until thrones were placed, and One who was the ancient of days sat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.


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 A fiery stream came forth from before Him: thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.


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 I saw at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I saw even until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.


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 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.


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 I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky One like a son of man, and he came up to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before Him.


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 There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.


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 As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.


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 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.


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 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.


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 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was so different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;


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 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before whom three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose appearance was more aggressive than its fellows.


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 until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.


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 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the land, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole land, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.


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 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put down three kings.


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 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear down the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.


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 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.


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 The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.


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 Here is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my appearance was changed: but I kept the matter in my heart.


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 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, I Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.


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 I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.


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 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.


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 I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.


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 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole land, and didn't touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.


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 He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.


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 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand.


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 The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and in the place of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky.


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 Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.


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 It grew great, even to the army of Heaven; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.


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 Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.


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 The army was given over to it along with the continual burnt offering on account of disobedience; and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did according to its will and prospered.


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 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, and the abomination that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot?


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 He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.


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 It happened when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.


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 I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.


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 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision concerns the time of the end.


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 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.


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 He said, See, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it concerns the appointed time of the end.


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 The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.


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 As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.


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 In the latter time of their kingdom, when the wicked have come to the full, a king of fierce appearance and understanding mysteries shall stand up.


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 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall be very destructive, and shall prosper and do his own will; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.


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 Through his policy he shall cause deceit to prosper; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human hand.


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 The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days to come.


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 I Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.


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 Daniel's Prayer In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,


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 in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years about which the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.


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 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.


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 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments,


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 we have sinned and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from Your precepts and from Your ordinances;


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 neither have we listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.


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 Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries where You have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against You.


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 Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.


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 neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.


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 Yes, all Israel have transgressed Your law, turning aside, that they should not obey Your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against Him.


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 He has confirmed His words which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole Heaven such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.


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 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favour of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and accept Your truth.


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 Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all His works which He does, and we have not obeyed His voice.


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 Now, Lord our God, You who brought Your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has gotten Yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.


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 Lord, according to all Your righteousness, please let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.


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 Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant, and to his petitions, and cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.


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 My God, turn Your ear, and hear; open Your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name: for we do not present our petitions before You for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies' sake.


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 Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don't defer, for Your own sake, my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name. 


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 While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;


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 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.


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 He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.


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 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.


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 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.


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 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.


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 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.


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 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come desolation even to the full end, and the wrath that is determined shall be poured out on the one who makes desolate.


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 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia something was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and it was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.


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 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.


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 In the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river which is Hiddekel,


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 I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose thighs were adorned with pure gold of Uphaz:


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 his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and his voice like the voice of a multitude.


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 I Daniel alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me didn't see the vision; but a great trembling fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves.


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 So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my moisture was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.


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 Yet heard I the voice of his words; and at the time I heard the voice of his words, I had fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.


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 He said to me, Daniel, you man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for I am now sent to you. When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.


text:
 Then he said to me, Don't be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard: and I have come for your words' sake.


text:
 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.


text:
 Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days.


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 And when he had spoken to me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was mute.


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 Then behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spoke and said to him who stood before me: My lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned on me, and I retain no strength.


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 For how can my Lord's servant talk with my lord? For as for me, immediately there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.


text:
 He said, Greatly beloved man, don't be afraid: peace be to you, be strong, yes, be strong. When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me.


text:
 Then he said, Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go forth, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.


text:
 But I will tell you that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none who holds with me against these, but Michael your prince.


text:
 Now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.


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 When he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these.


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 The king of the south shall be strong, and also one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.


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 At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.


text:
 But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.


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 Also their gods, with their molten images, and with their attractive vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall refrain some years from the king of the north.


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 His sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress.


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 The king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.


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 The multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.


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 The king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; and he shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.


text:
 In those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among your people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall.


text:
 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city: and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand.


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 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.


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 He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him.


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 After this shall he turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: but a commander shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; yes, moreover, he shall cause his insolence to return upon him.


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 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.


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 Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.


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 In his place shall arise a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.


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 The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken; even the prince of the covenant.


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 After the treaty made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.


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 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey and spoil and substance: moreover, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, but only for a time.


text:
 He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.


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 Yes, they who eat of his dainties shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain.


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 As for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.


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 Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do his pleasure, and return to his own land.


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 At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.


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 For ships of Kittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be afraid and shall withdraw, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure: he shall even return, and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.


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 Forces from him shall appear, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.


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 Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.


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 Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days.


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 Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with flattery.


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 Some of those who are wise shall stumble, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.


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 The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is decreed shall be done.


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 Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.


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 But instead he shall honour the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn't know shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.


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 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god: whoever acknowledges him he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price. 


text:
 At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.


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 He shall also come into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief leader of the children of Ammon.


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 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.


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 But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction.


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 He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.


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 At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.


text:
 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.


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 Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.


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 But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of its fulfilment: many shall run back and forth, and knowledge shall be increased.


text:
 Then I Daniel looked, and behold, two others stood, one on the river bank on this side, and the other on the river bank on that side.


text:
 One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?


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 I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.


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 Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.


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 From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.


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 But go you your way until the end; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.


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 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.


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 In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them,


text:
 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.


text:
 turn, and take your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.


text:
 Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them. 


text:
 Yahweh your God has multiplied you and behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude.


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 May Yahweh the God of your fathers make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as He has promised you!


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 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes and I will make them heads over you.


text:
 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties and captains of tens and officers, according to your tribes.


text:
 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother and the foreigner who is living with him.


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 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me and I will hear it,


text:
 We travelled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us, and we came to Kadesh Barnea.


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 I said to you, You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us.


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 Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you; go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.


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 You came near to me every one of you and said, Let us send men before us that they may search the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities to which we shall come.


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 They took of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.


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 and you murmured in your tents and said, Because Yahweh hated us He has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.


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 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there'.


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 Yahweh your God who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,


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 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Yahweh your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.


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 Who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.


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 Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,


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 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it and to him I will give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.


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 Joshua the son of Nun who stands before you, he shall go in there; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.


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 Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.


text:
 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Yahweh; we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us. Every man of you put on his weapons of war and presumed to go up into the hill country.


text:
 Yahweh said to me, Tell them, "Don't go up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest you be struck before your enemies'.


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 So I spoke to you and you didn't listen, but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh and were presumptuous and went up into the hill country.


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 The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.


text:
 Instructions to Avoid Edom, Moab and Ammon Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea as Yahweh spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir many days.


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 Command the people saying, "You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. Take good heed to yourselves therefore,


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 don't meddle with them, for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.


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 You shall purchase food of them for money that you may eat, and you shall also buy water of them for money that you may drink'.


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 For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He has known your walking through this great wilderness; these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you and you have lacked nothing.


text:
 So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.


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 Yahweh said to me, Don't bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle, for I will not give you of his land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.


text:
 The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them, and they destroyed them from before them and lived in their place, as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.)


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 The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them.


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 Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.


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 and when you come near to the children of Ammon, don't bother them or contend with them, for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.


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 That also is accounted a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there before, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,


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 a people great and many and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them and they succeeded them and lived in their place,


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 as He did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them and they succeeded them and lived in their place to this day;


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 and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place. 


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 Rise up, take your journey and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite king of Heshbon and his land; begin to possess it and contend with him in battle.


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 This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who will hear the report of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.


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 I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace saying,


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 Let me pass through your land; I will go along by the highway; I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left.


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 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet,


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 as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.


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 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as at this day.


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 Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you; begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.


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 We took all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left none remaining.


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 Only the livestock we took for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.


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 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered up all before us.


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 Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn't come near, all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbad us.


text:
 Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.


text:
 Yahweh said to me, Don't fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.


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 So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan and all his people, and we struck him until none remained.


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 We took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we didn't take from them; sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


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 All these were fortified cities with high walls, gates, and bars, besides the unwalled towns very many.


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 We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones.


text:
 We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon.


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 We took all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


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 (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length and four cubits its breadth, after the cubit of a man.) 


text:
 This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites;


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 and the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, all of Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim.)


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 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.


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 To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley and its border, to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;


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 the Arabah also, and the Jordan and its border, from Chinnereth to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.


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 I commanded you at that time, saying Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it; you shall pass over armed before your brothers, the children of Israel, all the men of valour.


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 But your wives and your little ones and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall live in your cities which I have given you,


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 until Yahweh gives rest to your brothers as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God gives them beyond the Jordan; then you shall return every man to his possession which I have given you.


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 I commanded Joshua at that time saying, Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings; so shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go.


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 Lord Yahweh, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to Your works and according to Your mighty acts?


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 Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good mountain, and Lebanon.


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 But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes and didn't listen to me; and Yahweh said to me, Let it suffice you; speak no more to Me of this matter.


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 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and see with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.


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 But commission Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go over before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.


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 Now Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you. Do them so that you may live and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers gives you.


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 You must not add to the word which I command you, neither must you take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.


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 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.


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 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.


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 Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations who shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people!


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 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on Him?


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 What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?


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 Only take heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; therefore make them known to your children and your children's children.


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 Remember the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me Assemble me the people and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the land and that they may teach their children.


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 You came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud and thick darkness.


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 Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.


text:
 He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.


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 Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances that you might do them in the land you go over to possess. 


text:
 Take therefore good heed to yourselves, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.


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 Do not corrupt yourselves and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,


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 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,


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 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.


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 Do not lift up your eyes to the sky and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the sky, be drawn away and worship them and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.


text:
 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of inheritance, right up to this day.


text:
 Furthermore, Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance;


text:
 but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over and possess that good land.


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 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God which He made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.


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 When you father children and children's children and you have been long in the land and corrupt yourselves and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke Him to anger,


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 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land you go over the Jordan to possess; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.


text:
 Yahweh will scatter you among the nations and you shall be left few in number among the nations where Yahweh shall lead you away.


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 There you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.


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 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and you will find Him, when you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.


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 When you are oppressed and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice;


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 for Yahweh your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.


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 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything like this great thing, or has been heard like it?


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 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard, and live?


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 Or has God tried to take a nation for Himself from the midst of another nation by trials, by signs and by wonders, by war and by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?


text:
 It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God and that there is none else besides Him.


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 Out of heaven He made you hear his voice so that He might instruct you, and on earth He made you see His great fire and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.


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 Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them and brought you out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt,


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 to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.


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 Know therefore this day and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh He is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else.


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 You must keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you this day, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God gives you forever. 


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 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbour unawares, and didn't hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:


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 Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.


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 these are the testimonies, the statutes and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came forth out of Egypt,


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 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt.


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 They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise,


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 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.


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 Moses called to all Israel and said to them, Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them and observe to do them.


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 Yahweh didn't make this covenant with our fathers but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.


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 (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time to show you the word of Yahweh, for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain) saying,


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 You must not make an engraved image for yourself, any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the water under the earth.


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 You must not bow down yourself to them nor serve them, for I Yahweh your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me,


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 You must not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.


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 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God in which you must not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates; so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.


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 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm, therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.


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 Honour your father and your mother as Yahweh your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.


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 Neither must you covet your neighbour's wife, neither shall you desire your neighbour's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour's.


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 These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness, with a great voice; and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.


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 When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness as the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders,


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 and you said, Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God does speak with man and he lives.


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 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die.


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 For who is there of all humanity that has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have, and has lived?


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 Go near and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God shall tell you, and we will hear it and do it.


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 Yahweh heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me and Yahweh said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you; they have well said all that they have spoken.


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 Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!


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 But as for you, stand here by Me and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.


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 You must observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you; you must not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.


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 You must walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, in order that you may live and that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.


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 Now these are the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land which you go over to possess,


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 in order that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, yes you, your son and your son's son, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.


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 Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, so that it may be well with you and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh the God of your fathers has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.


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 and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.


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 and you must teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.


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 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers to give you, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, great and good cities which you didn't build,


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 houses full of all good things which you didn't fill, and wells dug out which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full -


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 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.


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 for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of Yahweh your God shall be kindled against you and He shall destroy you from off the face of the land.


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 You must diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.


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 You must do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers,


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 When your son asks you in time to come, What do the testimonies, the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?


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 then you shall tell your son, We were Pharaoh's bondservants in Egypt and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand,


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 and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh and on all his house, before our eyes.


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 He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers.


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 Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as at this day.


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 It shall be righteousness to us if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as He has commanded us.


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 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it and casts out many nations before you, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you,


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 and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. You must make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them,


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 neither shall you arrange marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.


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 For he will turn away your son from following me to serve other gods; so the anger of Yahweh would be kindled against you and He would destroy you quickly.


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 But you must deal with them like this: break down their altars and dash their pillars in pieces and cut down their Asherim poles and burn their engraved images with fire.


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 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.


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 Yahweh didn't set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all peoples;


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 but because Yahweh loves you and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, therefore has Yahweh brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.


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 Know therefore that Yahweh your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations,


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 and repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not be slack to him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.


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 You must therefore keep the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which I command you this day, to do them. Blessings for Obedience 


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 If you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which He swore to your fathers.


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 He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.


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 You will be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock.


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 Yahweh will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which you know, will He put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.


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 You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver up unto you; your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.


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 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,


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 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the stretched out arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out; so shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.


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 Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and hide themselves perish from before you.


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 You shall not be scared of them, for Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God.


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 Yahweh your God will cast out those nations before you by little and little; you may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you.


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 But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you and will confuse them with a great confusion until they are destroyed.


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 He will deliver their kings into your hand and you shall make their name perish from under the sky; no man shall be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.


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 You must burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You must not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.


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 You must not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is a devoted thing.


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 You must observe to do all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers.


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 You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.


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 He humbled you and allowed you to suffer hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.


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 For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs and underground water gushing into valleys and hills;


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 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity. You shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you may dig copper.


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 When you shall eat and be full, then you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which He has given you.


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 Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God in not keeping His commandments, His ordinances and His statutes which I command you this day;


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 and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,


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 then your heart be lifted up and you forget Yahweh your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;


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 Who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents, scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; Who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint;


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 Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn't know, that He might humble you and that He might prove you, to do you good at your latter end;


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 But you must remember Yahweh your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as at this day.


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 If you forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.


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 As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you too shall perish, because you wouldn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.


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 Hear, Israel: you are to pass over the Jordan this day to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and walled up to the sky,


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 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak?


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 Know therefore this day that Yahweh your God is He who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and He will bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.


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 Don't say in your heart, after Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land; because Yahweh drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations.


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 Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land, but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God drives them out from before you, and that He may establish the word which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.


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 Know therefore that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.


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 Remember, don't forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you went forth out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place you have been rebellious against Yahweh. 


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 When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.


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 Yahweh delivered to me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.


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 At the end of forty days and forty nights Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.


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 Yahweh said to me Arise, get down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten image.


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 Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me saying, I have seen this people and truly it is a stiff-necked people;


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 let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under the sky, and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.


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 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.


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 I looked and truly, you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you.


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 I fell down before Yahweh as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh to provoke him to anger.


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 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also.


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 I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire and stamped it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust, and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.


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 When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying Go up and possess the land which I have given you, then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn't believe Him, nor listen to His voice.


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 So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights because Yahweh had said He would destroy you.


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 I prayed to Yahweh and said Lord Yahweh, don't destroy Your people and Your inheritance that You have redeemed through Your greatness, that You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.


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 Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don't look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor their sin,


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 lest the land You brought us out from say, "Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which He promised to them and because He hated them He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness'.


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 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, which You brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.


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 At that time Yahweh said to me, Cut two tablets of stone like the first and come up to Me onto the mountain and make an ark of wood.


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 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them within that ark.


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 So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand.


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 He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly, and Yahweh gave them to me.


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 I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets into the ark which I had made, and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.


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 (The children of Israel travelled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and there he was buried, and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his place.


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 At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day.


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 Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)


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 I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights and Yahweh listened to me that time also; Yahweh would not destroy you.


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 Yahweh said to me Arise, take your journey before the people, and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give to them. 


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 Now Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,


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 Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is in it.


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 It's just that Yahweh had a delight in your fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as it is at this day.


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 For Yahweh your God, He is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty and the awesome, who doesn't respect persons nor take reward.


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 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing.


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 You must fear Yahweh your God; you must serve Him and cling to Him and you shall swear by His name.


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 He is your praise and He is your God, Who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.


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 Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons, and now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.


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 Therefore you must love Yahweh your God and keep His instructions, His statutes, His ordinances and His commandments always.


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 Know this day - for I don't speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God - His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm;


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 His signs and His works, which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;


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 and what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;


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 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households and their tents and every living thing that followed them in the midst of all Israel.


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 Therefore you must keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong and go in and possess the land where you go over to possess it,


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 and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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 For the land where you go in to possess it isn't as the land of Egypt that you came out from, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;


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 but the land you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water of the rain of the sky,


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 a land which Yahweh your God cares for. The eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. 


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 If you will listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,


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 I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil.


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 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside, and serve other gods and worship them,


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 and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you and He shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.


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 Therefore you must lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand and they shall be for memorials between your eyes.


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 You must teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.


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 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens upon the earth.


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 For if you will diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him,


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 then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.


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 Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river Euphrates, to the hinder sea shall be your border.


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 No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you will tread on, as He has spoken to you.


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 the blessing, if you will listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you this day,


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 and the curse if you will not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not previously known.


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 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.


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 Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?


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 For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.


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 God's Choice of a Place to Worship These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days that you live on the earth.


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 You must surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree,


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 and you must break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You must cut down the engraved images of their gods and destroy their names out of that place.


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 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His dwelling place you shall seek, and there you shall come


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 and bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your freewill offerings and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.


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 There you shall eat before Yahweh your God and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.


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 You shall not do all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes,


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 But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety,


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 then to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there, you must bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the wave offering of your hand and all your chosen vows which you vow to Yahweh.


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 Rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.


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 but in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.


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 Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the hart.


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 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;


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 but you must eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, you and your son, your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand on.


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 When Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as He has promised you, and you say I want to eat meat, because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul.


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 If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to put His name there is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.


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 As the gazelle and the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it; the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.


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 Only be sure that you don't eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you shall not eat the life with the flesh.


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 You must not eat it, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.


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 Only your holy things which you have and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose,


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 and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God, and you shall eat the flesh.


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 Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.


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 When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,


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 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods saying, How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.


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 You must not do so to Yahweh your God, for every abomination to Yahweh, which He hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they burn in the fire to their gods.


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 If there should arise in the midst of you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,


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 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying, Let us go after other gods (which you have not previously known) and let us serve them,


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 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams, for Yahweh your God proves you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.


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 You must walk after Yahweh your God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you must serve Him and cleave to Him.


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 That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you must put away the evil from the midst of you.


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 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers,


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 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you or far off from you, from the one end of the land to the other end of the land,


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 you must not consent to him nor listen to him. Neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him,


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 but you must surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.


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 You must stone him to death with stones because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.


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 All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.


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 Certain bad men have gone out from the midst of you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known,


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 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true and certain that such abomination is done in the midst of you,


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 you must surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly and all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.


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 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its street and shall burn with fire the city and all its spoil, everything, to Yahweh your God, and it shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again.


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 Nothing of the devoted thing must cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as He has sworn to your fathers,


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 when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.


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 You are the children of Yahweh your God. You must not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.


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 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for His own possession above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.


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 Nevertheless these you must not eat of those that chew the cud or of those which have a split hoof: the camel, the hare and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don't have a split hoof, they are unclean to you.


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 The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn't chew the cud, is unclean to you; of their flesh you shall not eat and their carcasses you shall not touch.


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 You must not eat of anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. 


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 You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock, that you may learn to respect Yahweh your God always.


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 If the way is too long for you, so that when Yahweh your God shall bless you, you are not able to carry it because the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to set His name there is too far from you,


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 then you must turn it into money and take the money in your hand and go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose,


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 and you may spend the money on whatever your soul desires, cattle or sheep, wine or strong drink, or whatever your soul asks of you, and you may eat there before Yahweh your God, and rejoice, you and your household.


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 The Levite who is within your gates you must not forsake, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.


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 At the end of every three years you must bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year and store it within your gates,


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 and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come and shall eat and be satisfied, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. 


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 This is the method of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbour. He must not demand it of his neighbour and his brother because Yahweh's release has been proclaimed.


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 However there shall be no poor among you, for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it


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 if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you this day.


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 For Yahweh your God will bless you, as He promised you, and you will lend to many nations but you shall not borrow; and you will rule over many nations but they shall not rule over you.


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 If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you must not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother,


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 but you must surely open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, that which he lacks.


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 Beware that there is not a wicked thought in your heart saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing and he cries to Yahweh against you, it is sin to you.


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 You must surely give to him, and your heart must not be grieved when you give to him, because for this Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to.


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 For the poor will never cease out of the land, therefore I command you, saying, You must surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor, in your land. 


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 If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must let him go free from you.


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 You must furnish him generously out of your flock, out of your threshing floor and out of your winepress; as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.


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 You must remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt and Yahweh your God redeemed you, therefore I command you this today.


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 If he tells you I will not go out from you because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you,


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 then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.


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 It must not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you, for he was worth double the hire of a hireling; he has served you six years; and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do. 


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 All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock you must sanctify to Yahweh your God; you must do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.


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 You must eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household.


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 If it has any blemish, is lame or blind or has any defect whatever, you must not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.


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 You must eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle and as the hart.


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 The Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.


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 You must sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God from the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.


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 You must eat no leavened bread with it. You must eat unleavened bread with it seven days, the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.


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 No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days, neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.


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 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell in, there you must sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came forth out of Egypt.


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 You must roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose; and you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents.


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 For six days you must eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work. 


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 You must count for yourselves seven weeks: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to number seven weeks.


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 You must keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering, which you shall give according as Yahweh your God blesses you.


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 You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates and the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.


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 You must remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and you shall observe and do these statutes. 


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 You must keep the feast of tents seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress,


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 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant and the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.


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 You must keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh shall choose. Because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, you shall be altogether joyful.


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 Three times in a year must all your males appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks and in the feast of tents. They must not appear before Yahweh empty:


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 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you. 


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 You shall make judges and officers in all your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.


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 You must not twist justice, you must not respect persons, neither must you take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.


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 You must follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 


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 You must not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make for yourselves.


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 You must not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish or anything imperfect, for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.


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 If there is found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God in transgressing His covenant,


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 and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the army of the sky, which I have not commanded,


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 and it is told you and you have heard of it, then you must inquire diligently. Behold, if it is true and certain that such abomination is done in Israel,


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 then you must bring forth that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death with stones.


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 At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he who is to die be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he must not be put to death.


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 The hand of the witnesses must be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 


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 If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then go up to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose,


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 and come to the priests the Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days and ask. They shall show you the sentence of judgment.


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 You must do according to the sentence which they shall show you from that place which Yahweh shall choose, and you must observe to do according to all that they shall teach you;


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 according to the law which they shall teach you and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, that you shall do. You must not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or to the left.


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 The man who does presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, that man shall die, and you must put away the evil from Israel.


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 When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you and shall possess it, and dwell therein and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,


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 you must surely set him king over yourselves whom Yahweh your God shall choose; one from among your brothers you shall set king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.


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 Only he must not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so that he may multiply horses, because Yahweh has said to you, You shall not go back that way again.


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 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, so that his heart will not turn away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.


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 When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests, the Levites.


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 It shall be with him and he must read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.


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 Thus his heart will not be raised up above his brothers, and he will not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.


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 The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they will eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire as their inheritance.


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 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; Yahweh is their inheritance, as He has spoken to them.


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 This shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep. They shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks and the stomach.


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 The first fruits of your grain, your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep you shall give him.


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 For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons forever.


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 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose,


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 then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh.


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 When you have come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you must not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.


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 There must not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery or an enchanter, a sorcerer,


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 For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh, and because of these abominations Yahweh your God drives them out from before you.


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 For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do so. 


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 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet like me, from the midst of you, of your brothers. You are to listen to him.


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 This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, so that I do not die.


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 I will raise them up a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.


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 But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.


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 When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn't follow or happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.


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 Cities of Refuge When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,


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 you must set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess.


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 You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, into three parts, that any manslayer may flee there.


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 This is the case of the manslayer that shall flee there and live. Whoever kills his neighbour unawares and didn't hate him in time past,


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 as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbour to chop wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbour so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities and live,


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 lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer while his heart is hot and overtake him because the way is long, and strike him mortally, whereas he was not worthy of death because he didn't hate him in time past.


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 If Yahweh your God enlarges your border as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers,


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 if you keep all this commandment to do what I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God and walk always in His ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves besides these three,


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 so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and so guilt for blood be upon you.


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 But if any man hates his neighbour, and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities,


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 then the elders of his city must send and bring him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die.


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 Your eye shall not pity him, but you must put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.


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 You must not remove your neighbour's landmark, which those of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess it. 


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 One witness must not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin that he commits. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall a matter be established.


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 then both the men in the controversy shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.


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 The judges shall make diligent inquisition, and if the witness is a false witness and has testified falsely against his brother,


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 then you must do to him as he had thought to do to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.


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 Those who remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you.


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 Your eyes must not pity; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.


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 When you go forth to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots and a people more than you, you must not be afraid of them, for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.


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 and tell them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies; don't let your heart faint; don't be afraid or tremble, neither be scared of them,


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 The officers must speak to the people saying, Any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it, let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.


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 Any man who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten its fruit, let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat its fruit.


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 Any man who has pledged to be married to a wife and has not taken her, let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.


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 The officers shall speak further to the people and say, Any man who is fearful and fainthearted, let him go and return to his house, lest his brother's heart melt as his heart.


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 When the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.


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 If it makes you an answer of peace and opens to you, then all the people who are found therein shall become tributary to you and shall serve you.


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 When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you must strike every male of it with the edge of the sword,


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 but the women and the little ones, the livestock and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take for a prey to yourself, and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies, which Yahweh your God has given you.


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 Thus you must do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of nearby nations.


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 But of the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you must save alive nothing that breathes;


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 you must utterly destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you,


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 so that they do not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against Yahweh your God.


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 When you besiege a city a long time in making war against it to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them, for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?


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 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you shall destroy; cut them down. And you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you until it falls.


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 If anyone is found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, lying in the field and it isn't known who has struck him,


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 then your elders and your judges must come forth and measure to the cities which are around him who is slain.


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 The elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with and which has not drawn the yoke,


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 and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither ploughed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.


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 The priests the sons of Levi must come near, for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to Him and to bless in the name of Yahweh, and according to their word shall every controversy be decided.


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 All the elders of that city who are nearest to the slain man must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,


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 Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood to be among Your people Israel. The guilt of blood shall be forgiven them.


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 So you shall put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh. 


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 When you go forth to battle against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive


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 and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire to her and would take her to you as a wife,


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 and put off the clothing of her captivity and remain in your house and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.


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 If you have no delight in her, then you must let her go where she will, but you must not sell her at all for money. Since you have humbled her, you must not deal with her as a slave. 


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 If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son be hers who was hated,


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 then in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, he must not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn.


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 He shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 


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 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father nor the voice of his mother and, though they chasten him, will not listen to them,


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 then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his town.


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 They shall tell the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.


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 All the men of his city must stone him to death with stones. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.


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 his body must not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day (for cursed of God is he who is hanged on a tree), so that you don't defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.


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 You must not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them; you must surely bring them again to your brother.


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 If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house and it shall be with you until your brother seeks after it, and you shall restore it to him.


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 So you must do with his donkey and with his garment and with every lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found; you must not keep it to yourself.


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 You must not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him to lift them up again.


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 A woman must not wear men's clothing neither should a man put on women's clothing, for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.


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 If a bird's nest happens to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the hen sitting on the young or on the eggs, you must not take the hen with the young.


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 You must surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.


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 When you build a new house you must make a battlement for your roof, so that you don't bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there.


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 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard.


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 You shall make yourselves fringes on the four borders of your garment with which you cover yourself. 


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 and accuses her of shameful things and brings up an evil name on her and says, I took this woman and when I came near to her I didn't find in her the tokens of virginity,


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 then shall the father of the young woman and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the young woman's virginity to the elders of the city in the gate.


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 The young woman's father shall tell the elders, I gave my daughter to this man to wife and he hates her,


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 and behold, he has accused her of shameful things saying, "I didn't find in your daughter the tokens of virginity', and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.


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 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of Israel, and she shall be his wife; he may not divorce her all his days.


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 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house and the men of her city must stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.


text:
 If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they must both of them die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.


text:
 If there is a young woman who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,


text:
 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you must stone them to death with stones; the woman, because she didn't cry, being in the city, and the man, because he has humbled his neighbour's wife. So you shall put away the evil from among you.


text:
 But if the man finds the woman who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then the man only who lay with her must die,


text:
 but to the woman you shall do nothing; there is in the woman no sin worthy of death. For as when a man rises against his neighbour and kills him, even so is this matter;


text:
 If a man finds a woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and lays hold on her and lies with her and they are found,


text:
 then the man who lay with her must give to the woman's father fifty shekels of silver and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.


text:
 He who is wounded in the testicles, or has his privy member cut off, must not enter into the assembly of Yahweh.


text:
 An illegitimate person must not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh.


text:
 An Ammonite or a Moabite must not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Yahweh forever.


text:
 This is because they didn't meet you with bread and water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.


text:
 Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn't listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you.


text:
 You must not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You must not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.


text:
 If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, he must go outside the camp. He shall not come within the camp,


text:
 but when evening comes on he must bathe in water, and when the sun is down he shall come within the camp.


text:
 and you must have a trowel among your weapons, and when you relieve yourself you must dig with it and turn back and cover that which comes from you;


text:
 for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy so that He may not see an unclean thing in you and turn away from you. Various Laws 


text:
 He shall dwell with you, in the midst of you in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You must not oppress him.


text:
 There must be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel. Neither should there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.


text:
 You must not bring the hire of a prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.


text:
 You must not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money, of food or of anything that is lent.


text:
 To a foreigner you may lend on interest, but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to in the land where you go in to possess it.


text:
 When you make a vow to Yahweh your God you must not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you and it would be sin upon you.


text:
 That which has gone out of your lips you must observe and do, according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, as a freewill offering which you have promised with your mouth.


text:
 When you come into your neighbour's vineyard you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure, but you must not put any in your vessel.


text:
 When you come into your neighbour's standing grain you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbour's standing grain.


text:
 When a man takes a wife and marries her, if she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, he shall write her a bill of divorce and give it into her hand and send her out of his house.


text:
 If the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and gives it to her and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies,


text:
 her former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled, for that is abomination before Yahweh. You shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. 


text:
 When a man takes a new wife he shall not go into the army, neither must he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home for one year and shall please his wife whom he has taken.


text:
 If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave or sells him, then that thief must die. So you shall put away the evil from among you.


text:
 Take heed that in the plague of leprosy you observe diligently to do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.


text:
 you must surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down so that he may sleep in his garment and bless you, and it shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.


text:
 You must not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is of your brothers or of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.


text:
 Each day you must give him his hire. The sun must not go down on it for he is poor and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to Yahweh and it be sin to you.


text:
 The fathers must not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.


text:
 You must not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow's clothing in pledge,


text:
 but you must remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt and Yahweh your God redeemed you from there, therefore I command you to do this. 


text:
 When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.


text:
 When you beat your olive tree do not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless and for the widow.


text:
 When you harvest your vineyard do not glean it afterwards yourselves. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless and for the widow.


text:
 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.


text:
 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they must justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.


text:
 If the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence according to his wickedness, by number.


text:
 Forty stripes he may give him. He must not exceed this number. If he should beat him with many more than forty stripes, then your brother may seem vile to you.


text:
 If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead should not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband's brother should go in to her and take her to him as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.


text:
 The firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, so that his name is not blotted out of Israel.


text:
 If the man doesn't want to take his brother's wife, then she shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.


text:
 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he stands and says, I don't want to take her;


text:
 then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders and loose his shoe from off his foot, spit in his face, and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.


text:
 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts forth her hand and takes him by the private parts,


text:
 You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.


text:
 how he met you by the way and struck the hindmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary, and he didn't fear God.


text:
 Therefore when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, you must blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. Do not forget.


text:
 When you come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it and dwell in it,


text:
 take of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and put it in a basket and go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.


text:
 You shall come to the priest who will be in those days and tell him, I declare this day to Yahweh your God that I have come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.


text:
 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.


text:
 You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father and he went down into Egypt and lived there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.


text:
 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression,


text:
 and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm and with great terror, with signs and wonders;


text:
 and He has brought us into this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.


text:
 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which You, Yahweh, have given me. You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God.


text:
 You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you and to your house; you and the Levite and the foreigner who is in the midst of you. 


text:
 When you have made an end of tithing all your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless and to the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled.


text:
 You shall say before Yahweh your God, I have put away the holy things out of my house and have given them to the Levite and to the foreigner, to the fatherless and to the widow, according to all Your commandment which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.


text:
 I have not eaten of it in mourning, neither have I put away any of it while unclean, nor given any of it for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God. I have done according to all that You have commanded me.


text:
 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the ground which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 


text:
 This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.


text:
 You have undertaken to Yahweh this day to be your God and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances and listen to His voice.


text:
 And Yahweh has undertaken to you this day that you shall be a people for His own possession, as He has promised you, in order that you should keep all His commandments,


text:
 so as to make you high above all nations that He has made, in praise, in name and in honour, and that you might be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as He has spoken.


text:
 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.


text:
 On the day when you pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you must set up great stones and plaster them with plaster


text:
 and write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over, that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers has promised you.


text:
 When you have passed over the Jordan, I command you this day that you shall set up these stones, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.


text:
 There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones. You shall lift up no iron on them.


text:
 You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to Yahweh your God.


text:
 You shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God.


text:
 Moses and the priests and Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, Keep silence and listen, Israel: this day you have become the people of Yahweh your God.


text:
 You must therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you this day. 


text:
 These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have passed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.


text:
 "Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and secretly sets it up'. All the people shall answer and say "Amen'.


text:
 "Cursed is he who deprives the foreigner, fatherless and widow of justice'. All the people shall say "Amen'.


text:
 "Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt'. All the people shall say "Amen'.


text:
 "Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother'. All the people shall say "Amen'.


text:
 "Cursed is he who doesn't confirm the words of this law to do them'. All the people shall say "Amen'.


text:
 If you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe all His commandments which I command you this day, Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth.


text:
 All these blessings shall come on you and be with you, if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.


text:
 You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock.


text:
 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.


text:
 Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to; He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.


text:
 Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to Himself as He has sworn to you, if you will keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in His ways.


text:
 All the peoples of the land will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh and they will be afraid of you.


text:
 Yahweh will make you prosperous in the fruit of your body and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.


text:
 Yahweh will open to you His good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations and you shall not borrow.


text:
 Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only be above and you shall not be beneath, if you will listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you this day, to observe and to do,


text:
 and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 


text:
 But if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you this day, all these curses shall come on you and consume you.


text:
 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock shall be cursed.


text:
 Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken Him.


text:
 Yahweh will make the pestilence cleave to you until He has consumed you from off the land into which you now go in to possess it.


text:
 Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation and with fiery heat; with the sword, with blight and with mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.


text:
 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from the sky shall it come down on you until you are destroyed.


text:
 Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them but shall flee seven ways before them, and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.


text:
 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, and there shall be none to frighten them away.


text:
 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt and with the tumours, the scurvy and the itch, from which you cannot be healed.


text:
 You shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You shall be only oppressed and robbed always and there shall be none to save you.


text:
 You will betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house and not dwell therein. You will plant a vineyard and not use its fruit.


text:
 Your ox will be slain before your eyes and you shall not eat of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies and you will have none to save you.


text:
 Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people and your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no power in your hand.


text:
 The fruit of your ground and all your labours shall a nation which you don't know eat up, and you will be only oppressed and crushed always,


text:
 Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.


text:
 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you will set over you to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.


text:
 You will become an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away.


text:
 You will plant vineyards and dress them but you shall neither drink of the wine nor harvest them, for the worm shall eat them.


text:
 You will have olive trees throughout all your borders but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.


text:
 The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher and you shall come down lower and lower.


text:
 All these curses will come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you,


text:
 Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart because of the abundance of all things,


text:
 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness and in want of all things and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.


text:
 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;


text:
 It will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed. It will not leave you grain, new wine or oil, the increase of your livestock or the young of your flock, until it has caused you to perish.


text:
 It will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls come down in which you trusted, throughout all your land. It will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you.


text:
 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.


text:
 The man who is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother and toward the wife of his heart and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining,


text:
 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.


text:
 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband of her heart and toward her son and her daughter,


text:
 and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet and her children whom she shall bear; for she will eat them secretly, for want of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates. 


text:
 If you will not observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD,


text:
 then Yahweh will make your plagues terrible and the plagues of your seed, great plagues and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses and of long continuance.


text:
 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt which you feared, and they shall cling to you.


text:
 Also Yahweh will bring on you every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, until you are destroyed.


text:
 You will be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.


text:
 As Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.


text:
 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods which you have not known - you nor your fathers - gods of wood and stone.


text:
 Among these nations you shall find no ease and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot. Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and pining of soul,


text:
 and your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear night and day and shall have no assurance of your life.


text:
 In the morning you will say, I wish it were evening! and at evening you will say, I wish it were morning! for the fear of your heart which you shall fear and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.


text:
 Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again, and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man will buy you.


text:
 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.


text:
 Moses called all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land;


text:
 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you and your shoes have not grown old on your feet.


text:
 You have not eaten bread neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.


text:
 When we came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle and we struck them,


text:
 and we took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites.


text:
 You stand this day, all of you, before Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel,


text:
 your little ones, your wives and the foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water.


text:
 You wish to enter into covenant with Yahweh your God and into His oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you this day,


text:
 that He may establish you this day to Himself for a people and that He may be to you a God, as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


text:
 but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh our God and also with him who is not here with us this day.


text:
 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed,


text:
 and you have seen their abominations and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them.


text:
 This covenant is made lest there should be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood,


text:
 who, when he hears the words of this curse blesses himself in his heart saying I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.


text:
 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky.


text:
 Yahweh will separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. 


text:
 The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, shall see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick.


text:
 The whole land is sulphur, salt and burning, that it is not sown nor giving produce and no grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in His anger and in his wrath.


text:
 They and all the nations shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?


text:
 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,


text:
 and went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods that they didn't know and that He had not given to them.


text:
 Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book;


text:
 and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger in wrath and in great indignation and cast them into another land, as at this day.


text:
 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.


text:
 When all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you,


text:
 and return to Yahweh your God and obey His voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul;


text:
 then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity and have compassion on you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.


text:
 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will Yahweh your God gather you, and from there He will bring you back.


text:
 Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it, and He will do you good and multiply you above your fathers.


text:
 Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.


text:
 Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and persecuted you.


text:
 You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh and do all His commandments which I command you this day.


text:
 Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, for good. Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers,


text:
 if you will obey the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 


text:
 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it back down to us and make us hear it, that we may do it?


text:
 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go down into the deeps for us and bring it up to us and make us hear it, that we may do it?


text:
 I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.


text:
 But if your heart turns away and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,


text:
 I declare to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.


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 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed.


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 Love Yahweh your God, to obey His voice and to cling to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them.


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 I am one hundred and twenty years old this day. I can no more go out and come in, and Yahweh has said to me, "You shall not go over this Jordan'.


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 Yahweh your God, He will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you and you shall dispossess them. Joshua shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken.


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 Yahweh will do to them as He did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites and to their land, whom He destroyed.


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 Yahweh will deliver them up before you and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.


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 Be strong and courageous, don't be afraid nor be scared of them, for Yahweh your God, He it is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.


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 Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.


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 It is Yahweh who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you neither forsake you. Don't be afraid neither be dismayed. 


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 Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.


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 Moses commanded them saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents,


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 when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.


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 Assemble the people, men, women and the little ones and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear Yahweh your God and observe to do all the words of this law;


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 and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it. God Predicts the People's Failure 


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your life will end shortly. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him. Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.


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 Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud. The pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, you shall lay down to sleep with your fathers, and this people shall rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.


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 Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and I will hide My face from them and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them, so that they will say in that day, "Haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us?'


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 I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.


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 Now therefore write this song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.


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 For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise Me and break My covenant.


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 When many evils and troubles have come on them, this song shall testify before them as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination which they plan this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.


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 He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.


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 Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.


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 For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck; even while I am alive with you this day you have been rebellious against Yahweh, and how much more after my death?


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 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them.


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 For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands. 


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 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.


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 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.


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 the Rock; His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is He.


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 They have dealt corruptly with Him; they are not His children any more because of their blemish. They are a perverse and crooked generation.


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 Do you thus repay Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn't He your father who has bought you? He has created you and established you.


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 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you.


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 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.


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 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He embraced him, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.


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 As an eagle that stirs up her nest and flutters over her young, He spread abroad his wings. He took them, He carried them on His feathers.


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 He made him ride in victory on the high places of the earth and fed him with the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock,


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 butter of the herd and milk of the flock with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat. Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.


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 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown fat. You have become covered with flesh. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.


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 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn't know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn't fear.


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 He said, I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no loyalty.


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 They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.


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 For a fire is kindled in My anger, which burns to the lowest Sheol. It devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.


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 They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them and the poison of crawling things of the dust.


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 Outside, the sword shall bereave and inside, terror shall be on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the grey-haired man.


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 but I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, "Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this'.


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 How one could have chased a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight, had not their Rock sold them and Yahweh delivered them up!


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 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.


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 Vengeance is Mine and punishment, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste.


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 For Yahweh will judge His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their power is gone, that there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.


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 which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.


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 See now that I, even I, am He. There is no god with Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of My hand.


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 if I whet My glittering sword and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My adversaries and will punish those who hate Me.


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 I will make My arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.


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 Rejoice, you nations, with His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and will make expiation for His land, for His people.


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 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.


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 he said to them, Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you must command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.


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 For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life and through this you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it. 


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 Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab that is opposite Jericho, and see the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel for a possession.


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 Die on the mountain and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,


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 because you trespassed against Me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn't sanctify Me in the midst of the children of Israel.


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 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.


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 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.


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 He said, Yahweh came from Sinai and rose from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with ten thousands of holy ones. At His right hand was a fiery law for them.


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 Yes, He loved the people. All His saints are in Your hand. They sat down at Your feet; each receives Your words.


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 He was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.


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 This is for Judah. He said Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people; with his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries.


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 Of Levi he said, Your Thummim and your Urim are with your holy one whom You proved at Massah, with whom You strove at the waters of Meribah;


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 who said of his father and of his mother, "I have not seen him'. Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed Your word and keep Your covenant.


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 They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances, and Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You and whole burnt offering on Your altar.


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 Yahweh, bless his substance. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, so that they will not rise again.


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 Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by Him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between His shoulders.


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 Of Joseph he said, His land is blessed by Yahweh for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,


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 for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons,


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 for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of Him who was manifested in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.


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 The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox; with them he shall push all the peoples to the ends of the land. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim; they are the thousands of Manasseh.


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 They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand.


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 Of Gad he said, He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness and tears the arm, yes the crown of the head.


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 He provided the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver's portion reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel.


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 Of Naphtali he said, Naphtali, satisfied with favour, full of the blessing of Yahweh, possess the west and the south.


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 Of Asher he said, May Asher be blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers; let him dip his foot in oil.


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 There is none like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in His excellence on the skies.


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 The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrusts out the enemy from before you and said "Destroy!'


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 Israel shall dwell in safety alone, the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine. Yes, His heavens drop down dew.


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 You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellence! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you; you shall tread on their high places.


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 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite from Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan,


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 Yahweh said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, saying "I will give it to your seed'. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.


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 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows of his tomb to this day.


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 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his youth abated.


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 The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.


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 Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel listened to him and did as Yahweh commanded Moses.


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 in all the signs and the wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land


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 and in all the mighty hand and in all the great terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel.


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 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.


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 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.


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 All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.


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 That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.


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 Is there a thing of which it may be said, Behold, this is new? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.


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 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after. 


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 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.


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 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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 I said to myself, Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.


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 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.


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 I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold, this also was vanity.


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 I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.


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 I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;


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 I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men--musical instruments, and that of all sorts.


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 So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.


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 Whatever my eyes desired, I didn't keep from them. I didn't withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labour, and this was my portion from all my labour.


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 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labour that I had laboured to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun. 


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 I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king's successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.


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 The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness--and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.


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 Then I said in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.


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 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!


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 So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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 I hated all my labour in which I laboured under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.


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 Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labour in which I have laboured, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.


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 Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour in which I had laboured under the sun.


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 For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not laboured for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.


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 For what has a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labours under the sun?


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 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.


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 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.


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 For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that He may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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 A Time for All Things. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:


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 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;


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 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;


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 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. The Hand of God in the Midst of Human Frustrations. 


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 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can't find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.


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 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before Him.


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 That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away.


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 Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.


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 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.


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 I said in my heart, As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.


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 For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity.


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 Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?


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 Therefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what will be after him?


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 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.


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 Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.


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 Then I saw all the labour and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.


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 There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labour, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.


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 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn't have another to lift him up.


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 If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.


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 Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn't know how to receive admonition any more.


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 I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.


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 There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was--yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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 Guard your steps when you go to God's house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don't know that they do evil.


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 Don't be rash with your mouth, and don't let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.


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 When you vow a vow to God, don't defer to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.


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 Don't allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don't protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?


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 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words: but you must fear God.


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 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don't marvel at the matter: for one official is eyed by a higher one; and there are officials over them.


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 The Preacher Observes Wealth Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.


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 He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.


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 When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?


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 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.


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 As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.


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 This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labours for the wind?


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 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, in which he labours under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.


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 Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour--this is the gift of God.


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 For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.


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 Frustration from Dependency on Material Things There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:


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 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.


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 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:


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 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don't all go to one place?


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 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, who knows how to walk before the living?


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 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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 Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.


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 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?


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 Oppression, Anger and Discontent A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one's birth.


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 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.


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 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.


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 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.


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 For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.


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 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after Him.


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 All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.


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 It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also from that don't withdraw your hand; for he who fears God will come forth from them all.


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 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.


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 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.


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 which my soul still seeks; but I have not found. One man among a thousand have I found; but I have not found a woman among all those.


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 The Supremacy of the King. Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.


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 Don't be hasty to go out of his presence. Don't persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,


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 Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.


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 There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it. The Destiny of the Wicked 


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 All this have I seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.


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 So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.


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 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.


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 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.


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 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow; because he doesn't fear God.


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 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.


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 Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.


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 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes),


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 then I saw all the work of God, that man can't find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labours to seek it out, yet he won't find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won't be able to find it.


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 Equality in Death For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before them.


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 All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn't sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath.


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 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.


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 For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.


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 For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.


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 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.


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 Go your way--eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.


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 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labour in which you labour under the sun.


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 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.


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 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.


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 For man also doesn't know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.


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 There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.


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 Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.


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 Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.


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 Miscellaneous Observations Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odour; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour.


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 Yes also, when the fool walks by the way, his understanding fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.


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 If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don't leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.


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 If the axe is blunt, and one doesn't sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but skill brings success.


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 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.


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 A fool also multiplies words. Man doesn't know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him?


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 Blessed are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!


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 A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes the life glad; and money is the answer for all things.


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 Don't curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and don't curse the rich in your bedroom: for a bird of the sky may carry your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.


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 The Preacher Observes Generosity and Diligence. Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.


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 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.


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 As you don't know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don't know the work of God who does all.


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 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don't withhold your hand; for you don't know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.


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 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity. The Preacher Appeals to Youth 


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 Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things there is a God who will bring you into judgment for them.


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 Therefore remove anger from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.


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 Youth, Age and Life's End Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;


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 Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;


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 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows are darkened,


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 and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;


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 yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:


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 before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,


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 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. The Preacher's Final Thoughts 


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 Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.


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 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.


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 The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.


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 Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.


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 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.


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 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.


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 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are at Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus.


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 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,


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 in that He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love.


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 Having foreordained us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,


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 In whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,


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 making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in him,


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 in a plan which runs to the fullness of the times: To sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.


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 In whom also we were made His heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him who does all things after the counsel of His will,


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 In whom you also believed, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,


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 which is a guarantee of our inheritance, of the final redemption of God's own possession, for the praise of His glory. Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians 


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 For this cause, I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you and the love which you show toward all the saints,


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 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; so that you may have


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 the eyes of your mind enlightened, that you may appreciate what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,


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 and what the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of His might


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 which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead and had him sit at His right hand in heaven,


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 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come.


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 And He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to us to be head over all things in the church,


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 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, according to the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.


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 Among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by our natural condition destined to be children of God's wrath, even as the others.


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 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved!),


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 His intention was that throughout the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.


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 For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourselves, it is a gift from God.


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 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God beforehand prepared that we should walk in them. 


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 Wherefore remember, that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by those called Circumcision (which is in the flesh and made with hands),


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 you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and living without God in the world.


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 For he himself is our peace, who has made us one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility,


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 having abolished in the flesh the enmity, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself of the two one new man, making peace;


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 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, thereby having slain the enmity.


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 So then you are no longer strangers and pilgrims, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God,


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 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone.


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 This in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit:


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 That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,


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 of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of His power.


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 To me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,


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 and to make all men see what is the intention of this mystery which for ages has been hid in God who created all things.


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 The intention was that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places,


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 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Paul's Further Prayer for the Ephesians 


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 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that you may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.


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 That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you would be rooted and grounded in love,


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 that you might be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height,


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 and to truly know and understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.


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 Now to Him that is able to do immeasurably above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,


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 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,


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 (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?


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 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things).


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 And he gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.


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 For the perfecting of the saints, to the work of holy service, to the building up of the body of Christ,


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 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.


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 That we may no longer be like children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine devised by the trickery, craftiness and deceitful scheming of men.


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 By him all the parts of the body fit and are knit together, with every joint supplying something according to its unique purpose, thus making the body grow as it builds up itself in love. 


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 Therefore, this I say and testify in the Lord: You are to no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,


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 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart.


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 Therefore, putting away falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour. For we are members one of another.


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 Let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, so he may have something to give to him that has need.


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 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but as the need arises, speak that which is good for encouragement, that it expresses grace to those that hear you.


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 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and railing be put away from you, along with all malice.


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 And be kind to each other, sensitive, forgiving each other, even as God in Christ also forgave you.


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 and walk in love- just as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.


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 But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you- as is appropriate among saints;


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 nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor crude joking, which are not befitting saints; but rather the giving of thanks.


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 For this you know for sure, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.


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 Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things comes the anger of God upon the sons of disobedience.


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 But all things when they are reproved are revealed by the light. For everything that is revealed then becomes light.


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 Therefore it is said: Awake, you that sleep, and arise from the dead and Christ shall shine upon you.


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 Speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,


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 For the husband is the head of the wife and Christ is the head of the church- himself being the saviour of the body.


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 But as the church is subject to Christ, so the wives should also be to their husbands in everything.


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 that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and blameless.


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 Thus husbands ought also to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his own wife loves himself.


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 For no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church,


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 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.


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 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.


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 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but nurture them in the training and instruction of the Lord.


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 Servants, be obedient to those that according to the flesh are your masters, with respect and fear, in singleness of your heart, as if to Christ.


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 Not in the way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,


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 Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, the same shall he receive in return from the Lord, whether he be slave or free.


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 And you, masters, do the same things to them, and stop your threatening; knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. 


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 For we do not wrestle only against flesh and blood, but also against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.


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 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to withstand it; and after you have done everything, to stand firm.


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 Stand therefore, having girded yourself with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,


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 meanwhile taking up the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil.


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 With all prayer and petition, praying at all times in the Spirit; and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,


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 and on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,


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 But so you may also know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, shall make known to you all things;


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 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces),


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 that in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom which was in Shushan the palace,


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 in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the powerful ones of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him.


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 He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even one hundred and eighty days.


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 When those days were fulfilled, the king made a seven day feast for all the people who were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace.


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 There were hangings of white, green and blue material, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red, white, yellow and black marble.


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 They gave them ample drinks in golden vessels of various kinds, including the wine of the kingdom, according to the bounty of the king.


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 In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had instructed all the officials of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.


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 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus. 


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 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcass, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,


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 to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful.


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 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him.


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 Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times, (for it was the king's custom to consult those who knew law and judgement;


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


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 What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?


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


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 For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands when it is reported, "King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come'.


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 Today, the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's deed will likewise tell all the king's princes. This will cause much contempt and wrath. The King's Decree 


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 If it please the king, let a royal commandment go from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.


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 When the king's decree which he shall make is published throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give their husbands honour, both great and small.


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 for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, and that it should be published in the language of each people.


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 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.


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 Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the women's house, to the custody of Hegai the king's eunuch, keeper of the women. Let cosmetics be given them;


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 and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. The thing pleased the king, and he did so. 


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 There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, whose name was Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish a Benjamite,


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


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 He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.


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 So it happened that when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of Susa, to the custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.


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 The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the seven choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king's house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women's house.


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 Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.


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 Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women's house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her. 


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 Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying women).


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 The young woman then came to the king like this: whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the women's house to the king's house.


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 In the evening she went, and on the next day she returned into the second women's house, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who kept the concubines. She came in to the king no more, unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.


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 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favour in the sight of all those who looked at her.


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


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 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favour and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.


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 Then the king made a great feast for all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces, and gave gifts according to the king's bounty. Mordecai Saves the King's Life 


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 Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.


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 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers, Bigthan and Teresh, were angry, and sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.


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 This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name.


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 When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king's presence.


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 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.


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 All the king's servants who were in the king's gate bowed down, and paid homage to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn't bow down or pay him homage.


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 Then the king's servants who were in the king's gate said to Mordecai, Why do you disobey the king's commandment?


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 Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him and he didn't listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's position would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.


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 But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai's people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai's people.


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 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.


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 Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people's. They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's profit to allow them to remain.


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 If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.


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


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


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


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 Letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.


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 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be prepared against that day.


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 The couriers went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.


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 Mordecai Informs Esther about the King's Decree Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.


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 He came even before the king's gate; for no one was allowed inside the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.


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


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 Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth; but he didn't receive it.


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 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.


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 Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.


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 He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king to make supplication to him, to make request before him for her people. 


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 All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being invited, there is one law for him, that he be put to death; except those to whom the king might hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.


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 Then Mordecai asked them to return answer to Esther, Don't think to yourself that you will escape in the king's house any more than all the Jews.


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 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this?


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 Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.


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 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house.


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 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favour in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the sceptre.


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 Then the king asked her, What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom.


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 Esther said, If it seems good to the king, let the king come with Haman today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.


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 Then the king said, Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.


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 The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.


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


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 Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he didn't stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.


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 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.


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 Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.


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 Haman also said, Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.


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 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet. This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.


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 On that night, sleep fled from the king. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.


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 It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.


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 The king said, What honour and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? Then the king's servants who attended him said, Nothing has been done for him.


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 The king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.


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


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 So Haman came in. The king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honour? Now Haman said in his heart, Who would the king delight to honour more than myself?


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 let royal clothing be brought which the king wears, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set.


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 Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honour with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!' 


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 Then the king said to Haman, Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.


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 Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!


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 Mordecai came back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.


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 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.


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 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.


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 Esther Reveals Haman's Plot to the King So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.


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 The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.


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


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 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and bondmaids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss.


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 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?


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 Esther said, The adversary and the enemy is even this wicked Haman! Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.


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


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 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.


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 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house. The king said, Hang him on it!


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


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


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


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


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


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 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives? The King Grants Esther's Wish 


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 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, If I have freely granted you all that was Haman's, because he laid his hand on the Jews, and hanged him on a gallows, what do you further seek?


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 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may not be reversed by any man.


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 Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the first month, which is Nisan; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and in their language.


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 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds. 


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 In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions,


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


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 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.


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 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.


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 Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.


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 In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.


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 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put into effect, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned about so that the opposite happened- the Jews conquered those who hated them),


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 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.


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 All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.


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 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.


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 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.


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 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy; but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.


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 On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king.


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 The king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done.


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 Then Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows.


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 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.


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 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil.


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 The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.


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


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 But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.


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 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who lived in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.


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


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 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.


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 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;


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 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.


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 Therefore they called these days Purim, from the word "Pur'. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them,


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 the Jews established and imposed on themselves and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;


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 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their seed.


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


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 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,


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 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.


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 All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?


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 For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants.


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 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):


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 The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.


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 He said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than we are.


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 Come, let us deal prudently with them, in case they multiply yet more and it happens that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land.


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 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.


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 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.


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 and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field; they ruthlessly made them serve in all their service. 


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 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,


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 and he said, When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.


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 But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.


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 The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?


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 The midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.


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 Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.


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 The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a child fair to God, she hid him three months.


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 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.


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 Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maids walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it.


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 She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children!


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 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?


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 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. The woman took the child, and nursed it.


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 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, Because I drew him out of the water. 


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 It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.


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 He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.


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 He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, Why do you strike your fellow?


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 He said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? Moses was afraid, and said, Surely this thing is known.


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 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 


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 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.


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 The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.


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 They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.


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 He said to his daughters, Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.


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 She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.


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 It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the abuse, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the abuse.


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 God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.


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 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.


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 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.


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 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses! Moses! He said, Here I am.


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 He said, Don't come close. Take your sandals off from your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.


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 Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.


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 Yahweh said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.


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 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.


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 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. God's Plan to Deliver Israel from Egypt 


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 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.


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 Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?


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 He said, Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.


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 Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, "What is His name?' What should I tell them?


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 God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, You shall tell the children of Israel this: "I AM has sent me to you'.


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 God said moreover to Moses, You shall tell the children of Israel this, "Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you'. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.


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 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, "Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;


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 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey'.


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 They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God'.


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 I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go.


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 I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.


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 But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.


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 Moses answered, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, "Yahweh has not appeared to you'.


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 He said, Throw it on the ground. He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail. He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.


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 That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.


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 Yahweh said furthermore to him, Now put your hand inside your cloak. He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.


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 He said, Put your hand inside your cloak again. He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.


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 It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.


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 It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.


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 Moses said to Yahweh, O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a stammering tongue.


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 Yahweh said to him, Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?


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 The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses, and He said, What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.


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 You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.


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 He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.


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 Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive. Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.


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 Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.


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 Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand.


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 Yahweh said to Moses, When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.


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 and I have said to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn'.


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 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.


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 Yahweh said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him.


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 Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had instructed him.


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 Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.


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 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.


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 Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness'.


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 Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I don't recognize Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.


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 They said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest He fall on us with plague, or with the sword.


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 The king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!


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 Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.


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 You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.


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 The number of the bricks, which they made before, you are to still require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, "Let us go and sacrifice to our God'.


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 Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labour therein; and don't let them pay any attention to lying words. 


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 The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: "I will not give you straw.


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 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded questioned, Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?


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 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, Why do you deal this way with your servants?


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 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, "Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.


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 Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!


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 The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks! 


text:
 and they said to them, May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.


text:
 Moses returned to Yahweh and said, Lord, why have You brought evil on this people? Why is it that You have sent me?


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 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.


text:
 God's Message to Israel Yahweh said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.


text:
 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by My name Yahweh was I not known to them?


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 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens.


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 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.


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 Therefore tell the children of Israel, "I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:


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 and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.


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 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance: I am Yahweh'.


text:
 Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.


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 Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?


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 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 


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 These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.


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 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.


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 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.


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 The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years.


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 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.


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 Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.


text:
 Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.


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 Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.


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 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.


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 These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.


text:
 that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.


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 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.


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 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay My hand on Egypt, and bring out My armies and My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.


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 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. The Miracle of Aaron's Rod 


text:
 When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, "Perform a miracle!' then you shall tell Aaron, "Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent'.


text:
 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.


text:
 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.


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 For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.


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 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.


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 You shall tell him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness, and behold, until now you haven't listened.


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 Thus says Yahweh, In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in My hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.


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 The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river'.


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, "Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone'.


text:
 Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.


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 The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.


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 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.


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 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river.


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 Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, This is what Yahweh says, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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 and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs:


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt'.


text:
 Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.


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 The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.


text:
 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat Yahweh, that He take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.


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 Moses said to Pharaoh, I give you the honour of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.


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 He said, Tomorrow. He said, Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God.


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 The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.


text:
 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had brought on Pharaoh.


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 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.


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 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, "Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt'.


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 They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.


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 The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal.


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 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. 


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, "This is what Yahweh says, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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 Else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of beetles on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of beetles, and also the ground whereon they are.


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 I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of beetles shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth.


text:
 Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of beetles into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of beetles.


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 Moses said, It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won't they stone us?


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 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as He shall command us.


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 Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.


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 Moses said, Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of beetles may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.


text:
 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of beetles from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one.


text:
 Then Yahweh said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


text:
 behold, the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.


text:
 Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel'.


text:
 Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.


text:
 Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn't let the people go. 


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.


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 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking out with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.


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 They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking out with boils on man and on animal.


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 The magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians.


text:
 Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses. 


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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 For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.


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 For now I would have stretched out My hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;


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 but indeed for this cause I have raised you up: to show in you My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth;


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 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.


text:
 Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn't brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die'.


text:
 Those who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.


text:
 Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.


text:
 So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.


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 The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.


text:
 Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.


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 Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.


text:
 Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh's.


text:
 Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.


text:
 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.


text:
 The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn't let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.


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 Yahweh said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these My signs in their midst,


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 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh.


text:
 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,


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 and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.


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 Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day'. He turned himself about, and went out from Pharaoh.


text:
 Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?


text:
 Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?


text:
 Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.


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 He said to them, Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces.


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 Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire! They were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.


text:
 Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.


text:
 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.


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 For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.


text:
 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you.


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 Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that He may also take away from me this death.


text:
 Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.


text:
 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.


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 They didn't see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.


text:
 Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.


text:
 Moses said, You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.


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 Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don't know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there.


text:
 Pharaoh said to him, Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!


text:
 God Predicts the Death of Egypt's Firstborn Yahweh said to Moses, Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether.


text:
 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.


text:
 Yahweh gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.


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 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock.


text:
 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more.


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 But against any of the children of Israel a dog won't even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel.


text:
 All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, Get out, with all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out'. He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.


text:
 Yahweh said to Moses, Pharaoh won't listen to you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.


text:
 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Israel go out of his land.


text:
 This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.


text:
 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;


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 and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbour next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.


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 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:


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 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.


text:
 They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.


text:
 They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.


