# verses

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Right away, the people of Judah stopped worshiping in the temple of the LORD God, and they started worshiping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the LORD God angry at the people of Judah and Jerusalem,


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God's Spirit spoke to Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and Zechariah told everyone that God was saying: "Why are you disobeying me and my laws? This will only bring punishment! You have deserted me, so now I will desert you."


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King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father had always been a loyal friend. So when the people of Judah plotted to kill Zechariah, Joash joined them and gave orders for them to stone him to death in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah was dying, he said, "I pray that the LORD will see this and punish all of you."


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In the spring of the following year, the Syrian army invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killing all of the nation's leaders. They collected everything of value that belonged to the people and took it back to their king in Damascus.


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The Syrian army was very small, but the LORD let them defeat Judah's large army, because he was punishing Joash and the people of Judah for turning away from him.


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Joash was severely wounded during the battle, and as soon as the Syrians left Judah, two of his officials, Zabad and Jehozabad, decided to revenge the death of Zechariah. They plotted and killed Joash while he was in bed, recovering from his wounds. Joash was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs.


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The History of the Kings also tells more about the sons of Joash, what the prophets said about him, and how he repaired the temple. Amaziah son of Joash became king after his father's death.


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Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jehoaddin.


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For example, as soon as he had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father.


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But the children of those officers were not killed; the LORD had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished.


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Amaziah sent a message to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and called together all the men who were twenty years old and older. Three hundred thousand men went to Jerusalem, all of them ready for battle and able to fight with spears and shields. Amaziah grouped these soldiers according to their clans and put them under the command of his army officers.


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One of God's prophets said, "Your Majesty, don't let these Israelite soldiers march into battle with you. The LORD has refused to help anyone from the northern kingdom of Israel,


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and so he will let your enemies defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the one who brings both victory and defeat."


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Amaziah replied, "What am I supposed to do about all the silver I paid those troops?" "The LORD will give you back even more than you paid," the prophet answered.


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Amaziah ordered the troops from Israel to go home, but when they left, they were furious with the people of Judah.


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After Amaziah got his courage back, he led his troops to Salt Valley, where he killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers in battle.


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He captured ten thousand more soldiers and dragged them to the top of a high cliff. Then he pushed them over the side, and they all were killed on the rocks below.


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Meanwhile, the Israelite troops that Amaziah had sent home, raided the towns in Judah between Samaria and Beth-Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off their possessions.


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After Amaziah had defeated the Edomite army, he returned to Jerusalem. He took with him the idols of the Edomite gods and set them up. Then he bowed down and offered them sacrifices.


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This made the LORD very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask Amaziah, "Why would you worship these foreign gods that couldn't even save their own people from your attack?"


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But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted and said, "You're not one of my advisors! Don't say another word, or I'll have you killed." The prophet stopped. But then he added, "First you sinned and now you've ignored my warning. It's clear that God has decided to punish you!"


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King Amaziah of Judah talked with his officials, then sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel: "Come out and face me in battle!"


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Jehoash sent back a reply that said: Once upon a time, a small thornbush in Lebanon arranged the marriage between his son and the daughter of a large cedar tree. But a wild animal came along and trampled the small bush.


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Amaziah, you think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom. But stay at home and do your celebrating. If you cause any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will be destroyed.


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God made Amaziah stubborn because he was planning to punish him for worshiping the Edomite gods. Amaziah refused to listen to Jehoash's warning,


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and Jehoash captured Amaziah. Jehoash took Amaziah with him when he went to attack Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section about six hundred feet long.


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He carried away the gold, the silver, and all the valuable furnishings from God's temple where the descendants of Obed-Edom stood guard. He robbed the king's treasury, took hostages, then returned to Samaria.


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Everything else Amaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


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As soon as Amaziah started disobeying the LORD, some people in Jerusalem plotted against Amaziah. He was able to escape to the town of Lachish, but another group of people caught him and killed him there.


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After the death of King Amaziah, the people of Judah crowned his son Uzziah king, even though he was only sixteen at the time. Uzziah ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jecoliah. During his rule, he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.


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Zechariah was Uzziah's advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.


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While Uzziah was king, he started a war against the Philistines. He smashed the walls of the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt towns around Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia.


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Even the Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him.


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In Jerusalem, Uzziah built fortified towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the place where the city wall turned inward.


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He also built defense towers out in the desert. He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flatlands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.


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Uzziah's army was always ready for battle. Jeiel and Maaseiah were the officers who kept track of the number of soldiers, and these two men were under the command of Hananiah, one of Uzziah's officials.


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There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders. These powerful troops protected the king against any enemy.


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Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defense towers and at the corners of the city wall. God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.


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Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall. One day, Uzziah disobeyed the LORD his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him.


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and said, "Your Majesty, this isn't right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the LORD. That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the LORD, and so he will no longer bless you."


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Uzziah, who was standing next to the incense altar at the time, was holding the incense burner, ready to offer incense to the LORD. He became very angry when he heard Azariah's warning, and leprosy suddenly appeared on his forehead!


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Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the LORD had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.


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Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life. He was no longer allowed in the temple or in his own palace. That's why his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.


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Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is in the records written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.


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Since Uzziah had leprosy, he could not be buried in the royal tombs. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. His son Jotham then became king.


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Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years. Jerushah his mother was the daughter of Zadok.


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Jotham obeyed the LORD and did right. He followed the example of his father Uzziah, except he never burned incense in the temple as his father had done. But the people of Judah kept sinning against the LORD.


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Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple and did a lot of work to repair the wall near Mount Ophel.


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During his rule he attacked and defeated the Ammonites. Then every year for the next three years, he forced them to pay four tons of silver, sixty thousand bushels of wheat, and sixty thousand bushels of barley.


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Everything else Jotham did while he was king, including the wars he fought, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.


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Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years. Ahaz was nothing like his ancestor David. Ahaz disobeyed the LORD


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and he offered sacrifices in Hinnom Valley. Worst of all, Ahaz sacrificed his own sons, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the LORD had forced out of Israel.


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Ahaz and the people of Judah sinned and turned away from the LORD, the God their ancestors had worshiped. So the LORD punished them by letting their enemies defeat them. The king of Syria attacked Judah and took many of its people to Damascus as prisoners. King Pekah of Israel later defeated Judah and killed one hundred twenty thousand of its bravest soldiers in one day.


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During that battle, an Israelite soldier named Zichri killed three men from Judah: Maaseiah the king's son; Azrikam, the official in charge of the palace; and Elkanah, the king's second in command.


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The Israelite troops captured two hundred thousand women and children and took them back to their capital city of Samaria, along with a large amount of their possessions. They did these things even though the people of Judah were their own relatives.


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Oded lived in Samaria and was one of the LORD's prophets. He met Israel's army on their way back from Judah and said to them: The LORD God of your ancestors let you defeat Judah's army only because he was angry with them. But you should not have been so cruel!


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If you make slaves of the people of Judah and Jerusalem, you will be as guilty as they are of sinning against the LORD.


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Send these prisoners back home--they are your own relatives. If you don't, the LORD will punish you in his anger.


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About the same time, four of Israel's leaders arrived. They were Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai. They agreed with Oded that the Israelite troops were wrong,


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and they said: If you bring these prisoners into Samaria, that will be one more thing we've done to sin against the LORD. And he is already angry enough at us.


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So in front of the leaders and the crowd, the troops handed over their prisoners and the property they had taken from Judah.


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The four leaders took some of the stolen clothes and gave them to the prisoners who needed something to wear. They later gave them all a new change of clothes and shoes, then fixed them something to eat and drink, and cleaned their wounds with olive oil. They gave donkeys to those who were too weak to walk, and led all of them back to Jericho, the city known for its palm trees. The leaders then returned to Samaria.


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Some time later, the Edomites attacked the eastern part of Judah again and carried away prisoners. And at the same time, the Philistines raided towns in the western foothills and in the Southern Desert. They conquered the towns of Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, including the villages around them. Then some of the Philistines went to live in these places. Ahaz sent a message to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria and begged for help.


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But God was punishing Judah with these disasters, because Ahaz had disobeyed him and refused to stop Judah from sinning.


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Ahaz gave him gifts from the LORD's temple and the king's palace, as well as from the homes of Israel's other leaders. The Assyrian king still refused to help Ahaz.


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Even after all these terrible things happened to Ahaz, he sinned against the LORD even worse than before.


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He said to himself, "The Syrian gods must have helped their kings defeat me. Maybe if I offer sacrifices to those gods, they will help me." That was the sin that finally led to the downfall of Ahaz, as well as to the destruction of Judah.


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Ahaz collected all the furnishings of the temple and smashed them to pieces. Then he locked the doors to the temple and set up altars to foreign gods on every street corner in Jerusalem.


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In every city and town in Judah he built local shrines to worship foreign gods. All of this made the LORD God of his ancestors very angry.


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Everything else Ahaz did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


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Ahaz died and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs. His son Hezekiah then became king.


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Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.


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In the first month of the first year of Hezekiah's rule, he unlocked the doors to the LORD's temple and had them repaired.


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and said: It's time to purify the temple of the LORD God of our ancestors. You Levites must first go through the ceremony to make yourselves clean, then go into the temple and bring out everything that is unclean and unacceptable to the LORD.


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Some of our ancestors were unfaithful and disobeyed the LORD our God. Not only did they turn their backs on the LORD, but they also completely ignored his temple.


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They locked the doors, then let the lamps go out and stopped burning incense and offering sacrifices to him.


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The LORD became terribly angry at the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and everyone was shocked and horrified at what he did to punish them. Not only were


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So I have decided to renew our agreement with the LORD God of Israel. Maybe then he will stop being so angry at us.


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Let's not waste any time, my friends. You are the ones who were chosen to be the LORD's priests and to offer him sacrifices.


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When Hezekiah finished talking, the following Levite leaders went to work: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohath clan; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merari clan; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershon clan; Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphan clan; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaph clan; Jehuel and Shimei from the Heman clan; Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthun clan.


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These leaders gathered together the rest of the Levites, and they all went through the ceremony to make themselves clean. Then they began to purify the temple according to the Law of the LORD, just as Hezekiah had commanded.


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The priests went into the temple and carried out everything that was unclean. They put these things in the courtyard, and from there, the Levites carried them outside the city to Kidron Valley.


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The priests and Levites began their work on the first day of the first month. It took them one week to purify the courtyards of the temple and another week to purify the temple. So on the sixteenth day of that same month


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they went back to Hezekiah and said: Your Majesty, we have finished our work. The entire temple is now pure again, and so is the altar and its utensils, as well as the table for the sacred loaves of bread and its utensils.


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And we have brought back all the things that King Ahaz took from the temple during the time he was unfaithful to God. We purified them and put them back in front of the altar.


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They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as sacrifices to take away the sins of Hezekiah's family and of the people of Judah, as well as to purify the temple. Hezekiah told the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to sacrifice these animals on the altar.


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The priests then killed the goats and splattered the blood on the altar as a sacrifice to take away the sins of everyone in Israel, because Hezekiah had commanded that these sacrifices be made for all the people of Israel.


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Next, Hezekiah assigned the Levites to their places in the temple. He gave them cymbals, harps, and other stringed instruments, according to the instructions that the LORD had given King David and the two prophets, Gad and Nathan.


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The Levites were ready to play the instruments that had belonged to David; the priests were ready to blow the trumpets.


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As soon as Hezekiah gave the signal for the sacrifices to be burned on the altar, the musicians began singing praises to the LORD and playing their instruments,


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Then Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing the songs of praise that David and Asaph the prophet had written. And so they bowed down and joyfully sang praises to the LORD.


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Hezekiah said to the crowd, "Now that you are once again acceptable to the LORD, bring sacrifices and offerings to give him thanks." The people did this, and some of them voluntarily brought animals to be offered as sacrifices.


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Seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs were brought as sacrifices to please the LORD;


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There were not enough priests to skin all these animals, because many of the priests had not taken the time to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean. However, since all the Levites had made themselves clean, they helped the priests until the last animal was skinned.


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Besides all the sacrifices that were burned on the altar, the fat from the other animal sacrifices was burned, and the offerings of wine were poured over the altar. So the temple was once again used for worshiping the LORD.


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Hezekiah and the people of Judah celebrated, because God had helped them make this happen so quickly.


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Passover wasn't celebrated in the first month, which was the usual time, because many of the priests were still unclean and unacceptable to serve, and because not everyone in Judah had come to Jerusalem for the festival. So Hezekiah, his officials, and the people agreed to celebrate Passover in the second month. Hezekiah sent a message to everyone in Israel and Judah, including those in the territories of Ephraim and West Manasseh, inviting them to the temple in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover in honor of the LORD God of Israel.


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Everyone from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north was invited. This was the largest crowd of people that had ever celebrated Passover, according to the official records.


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Hezekiah's messengers went everywhere in Israel and Judah with the following letter: People of Israel, now that you have survived the invasion of the Assyrian kings, it's time for you to turn back to the LORD God our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped. If you do this, he will stop being angry.


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Don't follow the example of your ancestors and your Israelite relatives in the north. They were unfaithful to the LORD, and he punished them horribly.


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Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. Decide now to obey the LORD our God! Come to Jerusalem and worship him in the temple that will belong to him forever. Then he will stop being angry,


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and the enemies that have captured your families will show pity and send them back home. The LORD God is kind and merciful, and if you turn back to him, he will no longer turn his back on you.


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The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and West Manasseh as far north as the territory of Zebulun, but everyone laughed and insulted them.


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Only a few people from the tribes of Asher, West Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble and went to Jerusalem.


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In the second month, a large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread.


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Then, on the fourteenth day of that same month, the Levites began killing the lambs for Passover, because many of the worshipers were unclean and were not allowed to kill their own lambs. Meanwhile, some of the priests and Levites felt ashamed because they had not gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean. They immediately went through that ceremony and went to the temple, where they offered sacrifices to please the LORD. Then the priests and Levites took their positions, according to the Law of Moses, the servant of God. As the Levites killed the lambs, they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.


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Most of the people that came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, "LORD God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshiping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them."


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The worshipers in Jerusalem were very happy and celebrated the Festival for seven days. The Levites and priests sang praises to the LORD every day and played their instruments.


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Hezekiah thanked the Levites for doing such a good job, leading the celebration. The worshipers celebrated for seven days by offering sacrifices, by eating the sacred meals, and by praising the LORD God of their ancestors.


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So Hezekiah gave the people one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to be offered as sacrifices and to be used as food for the sacred meals. His officials gave one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and many more priests agreed to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean.


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Everyone was very happy, including those from Judah and Israel, the priests and Levites, and the foreigners living in Judah and Israel.


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After the Festival, the people went to every town in Judah and smashed the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah. They destroyed all the local shrines and foreign altars in Judah, as well as those in the territories of Benjamin, Ephraim, and West Manasseh. Then everyone went home.


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Hezekiah divided the priests and Levites into groups, according to their duties. Then he assigned them the responsibilities of offering sacrifices to please the LORD and sacrifices to ask his blessing. He also appointed people to serve at the temple and to sing praises at the temple gates.


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Hezekiah provided animals from his own herds and flocks to use for the morning and evening sacrifices, as well as for the sacrifices during the Sabbath celebrations, the New Moon Festivals, and the other religious feasts required by the Law of the LORD.


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He told the people of Jerusalem to bring the offerings that were to be given to the priests and Levites, so that they would have time to serve the LORD with their work.


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As soon as the people heard what the king wanted, they brought a tenth of everything they owned, including their best grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and other crops.


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The people from the other towns of Judah brought a tenth of their herds and flocks, as well as a tenth of anything they had dedicated to the LORD.


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The people started bringing their offerings to Jerusalem in the third month, and the last ones arrived four months later.


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The high priest at the time was Azariah, a descendant of Zadok, and he replied, "Ever since the people have been bringing us their offerings, we have had more than enough food and supplies. The LORD has certainly blessed his people. Look at how much is left over!"


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all the extra offerings were taken there. Hezekiah and Azariah then appointed Conaniah the Levite to be in charge of these storerooms. His brother Shimei was his assistant, and the following Levites worked with them: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah.


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Kore son of Imnah was assigned to guard the East Gate, and he was put in charge of receiving the offerings voluntarily given to God and of dividing them among the priests and Levites.


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He had six assistants who were responsible for seeing that all the priests in the other towns of Judah also got their share of these offerings. They were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. Every priest and every Levite over thirty years old who worked daily in the temple received part of these offerings, according to their duties.


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The priests were listed in the official records by clans, and the Levites twenty years old and older were listed by their duties.


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The official records also included their wives and children, because they had also been faithful in keeping themselves clean and acceptable to serve the LORD.


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Hezekiah also appointed other men to take food and supplies to the priests and Levites whose homes were in the pastureland around the towns of Judah. But the priests had to be descendants of Aaron, and the Levites had to be listed in the official records.


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Everything Hezekiah did while he was king of Judah, including what he did for the temple in Jerusalem, was right and good. He was a successful king, because he obeyed the LORD God with all his heart.


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After King Hezekiah had faithfully obeyed the LORD's instructions by doing these things, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He attacked the fortified cities and thought he would capture every one of them.


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he and his officials worked out a plan to cut off the supply of water outside the city, so that the Assyrians would have no water when they came to attack. The officials got together a large work force that stopped up the springs and streams near Jerusalem.


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Hezekiah also had workers repair the broken sections of the city wall. Then they built defense towers and an outer wall to help protect the one already there. The landfill on the east side of David's City was also strengthened. He gave orders to make a large supply of weapons and shields,


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and he appointed army commanders over the troops. Then he gathered the troops together in the open area in front of the city gate and said to them:


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Be brave and confident! There's no reason to be afraid of King Sennacherib and his powerful army. We are much more powerful,


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because the LORD our God fights on our side. The Assyrians must rely on human power alone. These words encouraged the army of Judah.


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When Sennacherib and his troops were camped at the town of Lachish, he sent a message to Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem. It said:


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I am King Sennacherib of Assyria, and I have Jerusalem surrounded. Do you think you can survive my attack?


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Hezekiah your king is telling you that the LORD your God will save you from me. But he is lying, and you'll die of hunger and thirst.


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Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the LORD's altars and places of worship? And didn't he tell you people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?


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You've heard what my ancestors and I have done to other nations. Were the gods of those nations able to defend their land against us?


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None of those gods kept their people safe from the kings of Assyria. Do you really think your God can do any better?


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Don't be fooled by Hezekiah! No god of any nation has ever been able to stand up to Assyria. Believe me, your God cannot keep you safe!


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Sennacherib's letter even made fun of the LORD. It said, "The gods of other nations could not save their people from Assyria's army, and neither will the God that Hezekiah worships."


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The officials said all these things in Hebrew, so that everyone listening from the city wall would understand and be terrified and surrender.


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The officials talked about the LORD God as if he were nothing but an ordinary god or an idol that someone had made.


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and he sent an angel that killed every soldier and commander in the Assyrian camp. Sennacherib returned to Assyria, completely disgraced. Then one day he went into the temple of his god where some of his sons killed him.


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The LORD rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from Sennacherib and also protected them from other enemies.


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People brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and expensive gifts for Hezekiah, and from that day on, every nation on earth respected Hezekiah.


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About this same time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. He prayed, and the LORD gave him a sign that he would recover.


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But Hezekiah was so proud that he refused to thank the LORD for everything he had done for him. This made the LORD angry, and he punished Hezekiah and the people of Judah and Jerusalem.


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Hezekiah and the people later felt sorry and asked the LORD to forgive them. So the LORD did not punish them as long as Hezekiah was king.


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Hezekiah was very rich, and everyone respected him. He built special rooms to store the silver, the gold, the precious stones and spices, the shields, and the other valuable possessions.


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Storehouses were also built for his supply of grain, wine, and olive oil; barns were built for his cattle, and pens were put up for his sheep.


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God made Hezekiah extremely rich, so he bought even more sheep, goats, and cattle. And he built towns where he could keep all these animals.


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It was Hezekiah who built a tunnel that carried the water from Gihon Spring into the city of Jerusalem. In fact, everything he did was successful!


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Even when the leaders of Babylonia sent messengers to ask Hezekiah about the sign God had given him, God let Hezekiah give his own answer to test him and to see if he would remain faithful.


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Everything else Hezekiah did while he was king, including how faithful he was to the LORD, is included in the records kept by Isaiah the prophet. These are written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


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When Hezekiah died, he was buried in the section of the royal tombs that was reserved for the most respected kings, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem honored him. His son Manasseh then became king.


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Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled fifty-five years from Jerusalem.


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He rebuilt the local shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He built altars for the god Baal and set up sacred poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah. And he faithfully worshiped the stars in the sky.


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and even set up a stone image of a foreign god. Manasseh practiced magic and witchcraft; he asked fortunetellers for advice and sacrificed his own sons in Hinnom Valley. He did many other sinful things and made the LORD very angry. Years ago, God had told David and Solomon: Jerusalem is the place I prefer above all others in Israel. It belongs to me, and there in the temple I will be worshiped forever.


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If my people will faithfully obey all the laws and teaching I gave to my servant Moses, I will never again force them to leave the land I gave to their ancestors.


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But the people of Judah and Jerusalem listened to Manasseh and did even more sinful things than the nations the LORD had wiped out.


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So he let Assyrian army commanders invade Judah and capture Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose and tied him up in chains, and they took him to Babylon.


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The LORD listened to Manasseh's prayer and saw how sorry he was, and so he let him go back to Jerusalem and rule as king. Manasseh knew from then on that the LORD was God.


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Later, Manasseh rebuilt the eastern section of Jerusalem's outer wall and made it taller. This section went from Gihon Valley north to Fish Gate and around the part of the city called Mount Ophel. He also assigned army officers to each of the fortified cities in Judah.


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Manasseh also removed the idols and the stone image of the foreign god from the temple, and he gathered the altars he had built near the temple and in other parts of Jerusalem. He threw all these things outside the city.


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Then he repaired the LORD's altar and offered sacrifices to thank him and sacrifices to ask his blessing. He gave orders that everyone in Judah must worship the LORD God of Israel.


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Everything else Manasseh did while he was king, including his prayer to the LORD God and the warnings from his prophets, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.


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Hozai wrote a lot about Manasseh, including his prayer and God's answer. But Hozai also recorded the evil things Manasseh did before turning back to God, as well as a list of places where Manasseh set up idols, and where he built local shrines and places to worship Asherah.


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Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for two years.


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Amon disobeyed the LORD, just as his father Manasseh had done, and he worshiped and offered sacrifices to the idols his father had made.


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Manasseh had turned back to the LORD, but Amon refused to do that. Instead, he sinned even more than his father.


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Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled thirty-one years from Jerusalem.


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When Josiah was only sixteen years old he began worshiping God, just as his ancestor David had done. Then, four years later, he decided to destroy the local shrines in Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the sacred poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah and the idols of foreign gods.


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He watched as the altars for the worship of the god Baal were torn down, and as the nearby incense altars were smashed. The Asherah poles, the idols, and the stone images were also smashed, and the pieces were scattered over the graves of their worshipers.


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Josiah then had the bones of the pagan priests burned on the altars. And so Josiah got rid of the worship of foreign gods in Judah and Jerusalem.


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He did the same things in the towns and ruined villages in the territories of West Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as the border of Naphtali.


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Everywhere in the northern kingdom of Israel, Josiah tore down pagan altars and Asherah poles; he crushed idols to dust and smashed incense altars. Then Josiah went back to Jerusalem.


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In the eighteenth year of Josiah's rule in Judah, after he had gotten rid of all the sinful things from the land and from the LORD's temple, he sent three of his officials to repair the temple. They were Shaphan son of Azaliah, Governor Maaseiah of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, who kept the government records.


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These three men went to Hilkiah the high priest. They gave him the money that the Levite guards had collected from the people of West Manasseh, Ephraim, and the rest of Israel, as well as those living in Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.


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Then the money was turned over to the men who supervised the repairs to the temple. They used some of it to pay the workers,


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and they gave the rest of it to the carpenters and builders, who used it to buy the stone and wood they needed to repair the other buildings that Judah's kings had not taken care of.


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The workers were honest, and their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah from the Levite clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Levite clan of Kohath. Other Levites, who were all skilled musicians,


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were in charge of carrying supplies and supervising the workers. Other Levites were appointed to stand guard around the temple.


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While the money was being given to these supervisors, Hilkiah found the book that contained the laws that the LORD had given to Moses.


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Hilkiah handed the book to Shaphan the official and said, "Look what I found here in the temple--The Book of God's Law."


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But there's something else, Your Majesty. The priest Hilkiah gave me this book." Then Shaphan read it aloud.


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At once he called together Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, and his own servant Asaiah. He said,


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"The LORD must be furious with me and everyone else in Israel and Judah, because our ancestors did not obey the laws written in this book. Go find out what the LORD wants us to do."


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Hilkiah and the four other men left right away and went to talk with Huldah the prophet. Her husband was Shallum, who was in charge of the king's clothes. Huldah lived in the northern part of Jerusalem, and when they met in her home,


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"Josiah, I am the LORD! And I intend to punish this country and everyone in it, just as this book says.


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The people of Judah and Israel have rejected me. They have offered sacrifices to foreign gods and have worshiped their own idols. I can't stand it any longer. I am furious.


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"Josiah, listen to what I am going to do. I noticed how sad you were when you heard that this country and its people would be completely wiped out. You even tore your clothes in sorrow, and I heard you cry.


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So before I destroy this place, I will let you die in peace." The men left and reported to Josiah what Huldah had said.


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Then he went to the LORD's temple, together with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. Finally, when everybody was there, he read aloud The Book of God's Law that had been found in the temple.


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After Josiah had finished reading, he stood in the place reserved for the king. He promised in the LORD's name to faithfully obey the LORD and to follow his laws and teachings that were written in the book.


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Then he asked the people of Jerusalem and Benjamin to make that same promise and to obey the God their ancestors had worshiped.


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Josiah destroyed all the idols in the territories of Israel, and he commanded everyone in Israel to worship only the LORD God. The people did not turn away from the LORD God of their ancestors for the rest of Josiah's rule as king.


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Josiah commanded that Passover be celebrated in Jerusalem to honor the LORD. So, on the fourteenth day of the first month, the lambs were killed for the Passover celebration.


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He called together the Levites who served the LORD and who taught the people his laws, and he said: No longer will you have to carry the sacred chest from place to place. It will stay in the temple built by King Solomon son of David, where you will serve the LORD and his people Israel.


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Divide yourselves into groups, then arrange yourselves throughout the temple so that each family of worshipers will be able to get help from one of you.


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When the people bring you their Passover lamb, you must kill it and prepare it to be sacrificed to the LORD. Make sure the people celebrate according to the instructions that the LORD gave Moses, and don't do anything to make yourselves unclean and unacceptable.


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Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand bulls from his own flocks and herds for the people to offer as sacrifices.


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Josiah's officials also voluntarily gave some of their animals to the people, the priests, and the Levites as sacrifices. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were the officials in charge of the temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred sheep and lambs and three hundred bulls to sacrifice during the Passover celebration.


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Conaniah, his two brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad were leaders of the Levites, and they gave the other Levites five thousand sheep and goats, and five hundred bulls to offer as sacrifices.


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When everything was ready to celebrate Passover, the priests and the Levites stood where Josiah had told them.


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Then the Levites killed and skinned the Passover lambs, and they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.


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The Levites set aside the parts of the animal that the worshipers needed for their sacrifices to please the LORD, just as the Law of Moses required. They also did the same thing with the bulls.


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They sacrificed the Passover animals on the altar and boiled the meat for the other offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly handed the meat to the people so they could eat it.


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All day long, the priests were busy offering sacrifices and burning the animals' fat on the altar. And when everyone had finished, the Levites prepared Passover animals for themselves and for the priests.


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During the celebration some of the Levites prepared Passover animals for the musicians and the guards, so that the Levite musicians would not have to leave their places, which had been assigned to them according to the instructions of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. Even the guards at the temple gates did not have to leave their posts.


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So on that day, Passover was celebrated to honor the LORD, and sacrifices were offered on the altar to him, just as Josiah had commanded.


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People from Jerusalem and from towns all over Judah and Israel were there. Passover had not been observed like this since the days of Samuel the prophet. In fact, this was the greatest Passover celebration in Israel's history!


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Some time later, King Neco of Egypt led his army to the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River. And Josiah led his troops north to meet the Egyptians in battle.


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Neco sent the following message to Josiah: I'm not attacking you, king of Judah! We're not even at war. But God has told me to quickly attack my enemy. God is on my side, so if you try to stop me, he will punish you.


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But Josiah ignored Neco's warning, even though it came from God! Instead, he disguised himself and marched into battle against Neco in the valley near Megiddo.


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During the battle an Egyptian soldier shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, "Get me out of here! I've been hit."


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They carried Josiah out of his chariot, then put him in the other chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem, where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.


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Jeremiah the prophet wrote a funeral song in honor of Josiah. And since then, anyone in Judah who mourns the death of Josiah sings that song. It is included in the collection of funeral songs.


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King Neco of Egypt captured Jehoahaz and forced Judah to pay almost four tons of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold as taxes.


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Then Neco appointed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He led Jehoahaz away to Egypt as his prisoner.


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Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled eleven years from Jerusalem. Jehoiakim disobeyed the LORD his God by doing evil.


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During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah. He arrested Jehoiakim and put him in chains, and he sent him to the capital city of Babylon.


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Nebuchadnezzar also carried off many of the valuable things in the LORD's temple, and he put them in his palace in Babylon.


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Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king, including all the disgusting and evil things, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin then became king.


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Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only three months and ten days from Jerusalem. Jehoiachin also disobeyed the LORD by doing evil.


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In the spring of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had Jehoiachin arrested and taken to Babylon, along with more of the valuable items in the temple. Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah king of Judah.


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Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years.


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He disobeyed the LORD his God and refused to change his ways, even after a warning from Jeremiah, the LORD's prophet.


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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had forced Zedekiah to promise in God's name that he would be loyal. Zedekiah was stubborn and refused to turn back to the LORD God of Israel, so he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.


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The people of Judah and even the priests who were their leaders became more unfaithful. They followed the disgusting example of the nations around them and made the LORD's holy temple unfit for worship.


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But the LORD God felt sorry for his people, and instead of destroying the temple, he sent prophets who warned the people over and over about their sins.


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But the people only laughed and insulted these prophets. They ignored what the LORD God was trying to tell them, until he finally became so angry that nothing could stop him from punishing Judah and Jerusalem.


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The LORD sent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to attack Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar killed the young men who were in the temple, and he showed no mercy to anyone, whether man or woman, young or old. God let him kill everyone in the city.


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Nebuchadnezzar carried off everything that was left in the temple; he robbed the treasury and the personal storerooms of the king and his officials. He took everything back to Babylon.


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Nebuchadnezzar's troops burned down the temple and destroyed every important building in the city. Then they broke down the city wall.


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The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners, where they were slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation.


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Judah was an empty desert, and it stayed that way for seventy years, to make up for all the years it was not allowed to rest. These things happened just as Jeremiah the LORD's prophet had said.


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In the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the LORD had Cyrus send a message to all parts of his kingdom. This happened just as Jeremiah the LORD's prophet had promised.


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The message said: I am King Cyrus of Persia. The LORD God of heaven has made me the ruler of every nation on earth. He has also chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The LORD God will watch over any of his people who want to go back to Judah.


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Years ago the LORD sent Jeremiah with a message about a promise for the people of Israel. Then in the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the LORD kept his promise by having Cyrus send this official message to all parts of his kingdom:


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I am King Cyrus of Persia. The LORD God of heaven, who is also the God of Israel, has made me the ruler of all nations on earth. And he has chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The LORD God will watch over and encourage any of his people who want to go back to Jerusalem and help build the temple.


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Everyone else must provide what is needed. They must give money, supplies, and animals, as well as gifts for rebuilding God's temple.


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Many people felt that the LORD God wanted them to help rebuild his temple, and they made plans to go to Jerusalem. Among them were priests, Levites, and leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.


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The others helped by giving silver articles, gold, personal possessions, cattle, and other valuable gifts, as well as offerings for the temple.


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King Cyrus gave back the things that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the LORD's temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his own gods.


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Cyrus placed Mithredath, his chief treasurer, in charge of these things. Mithredath counted them and gave a list to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah.


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Included among them were: 30 large gold dishes; 1,000 large silver dishes; 29 other dishes; 30 gold bowls; 410 silver bowls; and 1,000 other articles.


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Altogether, there were 5,400 gold and silver dishes, bowls, and other articles. Sheshbazzar took them with him when he and the others returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia.


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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had captured many of the people of Judah and had taken them as prisoners to Babylonia. Now they were on their way back to Jerusalem and to their own towns everywhere in Judah.


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Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah were in charge of the ones who were coming back. And here is a list of how many returned from each family group: 2,172 from the family of Parosh; 372 from the family of Shephatiah; 775 from the family of Arah; 2,812 descendants of Jeshua and Joab from the family of Pahath Moab; 1,254 from the family of Elam; 945 from the family of Zattu; 760 from the family of Zaccai; 642 from the family of Bani; 623 from the family of Bebai; 1,222 from the family of Azgad; 666 from the family of Adonikam; 2,056 from the family of Bigvai; 454 from the family of Adin; 98 from the family of Ater, also known as Hezekiah; 323 from the family of Bezai; 112 from the family of Jorah; 223 from the family of Hashum; and 95 from the family of Gibbar.


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Here is how many people returned whose ancestors had come from the following towns: 123 from Bethlehem; 56 from Netophah; 128 from Anathoth; 42 from Azmaveth; 743 from Kiriatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth; 621 from Ramah and Geba; 122 from Michmas; 223 from Bethel and Ai; 52 from Nebo; 156 from Magbish; 1,254 from the other Elam; 320 from Harim; 725 from Lod, Hadid, and Ono; 345 from Jericho; and 3,630 from Senaah.


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Here is a list of how many returned from each family of priests: 973 descendants of Jeshua from the family of Jedaiah; 1,052 from the family of Immer; 1,247 from the family of Pashhur; and 1,017 from the family of Harim.


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And here is a list of how many returned from the families of Levites: 74 descendants of Hodaviah from the families of Jeshua and Kadmiel; 128 descendants of Asaph from the temple musicians; and 139 descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai from the temple guards.


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Here is a list of the families of temple workers whose descendants returned: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Siaha, Padon, Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, Hagab, Shamlai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Asnah, Meunim, Nephisim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah, and Hatipha.


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Here is a list of Solomon's servants whose descendants returned: Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Ami.


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There were 652 who returned from the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, though they could not prove that they were Israelites. They had lived in the Babylonian towns of Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer.


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The families of Habaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai could not prove that they were priests. The ancestor of the family of Barzillai had married the daughter of Barzillai from Gilead and had taken his wife's family name. But the records of these three families could not be found, and none of them were allowed to serve as priests.


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In fact, the governor told them, "You cannot eat the food offered to God until we find out if you really are priests."


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There were 42,360 who returned, in addition to 7,337 servants and 200 musicians, both women and men. They brought with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.


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When the people came to where the LORD's temple had been in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders gave gifts so it could be rebuilt in the same place.


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They gave all they could, and it came to a total of 1,030 pounds of gold, 5,740 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.


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Everyone returned to the towns from which their families had come, including the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the temple guards, and the workers.


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During the seventh month of the year, the Israelites who had settled in their towns went to Jerusalem.


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The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the instructions God had given to Moses.


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And they built the altar where it had stood before, even though they were afraid of the people who were already living around there. Then every morning and evening they burned sacrifices and offerings to the LORD.


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The people followed the rules for celebrating the Festival of Shelters and offered the proper sacrifices each day.


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They offered sacrifices to please the LORD, sacrifices at each New Moon Festival, and sacrifices at the rest of the LORD's festivals. Every offering the people had brought was presented to the LORD.


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Although work on the temple itself had not yet begun, the people started offering sacrifices on the LORD's altar on the first day of the seventh month of that year.


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King Cyrus of Persia had said the Israelites could have cedar trees brought from Lebanon to Joppa by sea. So they sent grain, wine, and olive oil to the cities of Tyre and Sidon as payment for these trees, and they gave money to the stoneworkers and carpenters.


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During the second month of the second year after the people had returned from Babylonia, they started rebuilding the LORD's temple. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned started working. Every Levite over twenty years of age was put in charge of some part of the work.


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The Levites in charge of the whole project were Joshua and his sons and relatives and Kadmiel and his sons from the family of Hodaviah. The family of Henadad worked along with them.


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When the builders had finished laying the foundation of the temple, the priests put on their robes and blew trumpets in honor of the LORD, while the Levites from the family of Asaph praised God with cymbals. All of them followed the instructions given years before by King David.


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They praised the LORD and gave thanks as they took turns singing: "The LORD is good! His faithful love for Israel will last forever." Everyone started shouting and praising the LORD because work on the foundation of the temple had begun.


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Many of the older priests and Levites and the heads of families cried aloud because they remembered seeing the first temple years before. But others were so happy that they celebrated with joyful shouts.


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Their shouting and crying were so noisy that it all sounded alike and could be heard a long way off.


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The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had come back to rebuild the temple of the LORD God of Israel.


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So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, "Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here, we have worshiped your God and offered sacrifices to him."


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But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, "You cannot take part in building a temple for the LORD our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."


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Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building.


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During the time that Cyrus was king and even until Darius became king, they kept bribing government officials to slow down the work.


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In the first year that Xerxes was king, the neighboring people brought written charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.


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Later, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their advisors got together and wrote a letter to Artaxerxes when he was king of Persia. It was written in Aramaic and had to be translated.


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A letter was also written to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem by Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors, including the judges, the governors, the officials, and the local leaders. They were joined in writing this letter by people from Erech and Babylonia, the Elamites from Susa, and people from other foreign nations that the great and famous Ashurbanipal had forced to settle in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.


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This letter said: Your Majesty King Artaxerxes, we are your servants from everywhere in Western Province, and we send you our greetings.


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You should know that the Jews who left your country have moved back to Jerusalem and are now rebuilding that terrible city. In fact, they have almost finished rebuilding the walls and repairing the foundations.


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You should also know that if the walls are completed and the city is rebuilt, the Jews won't pay any kind of taxes, and there will be less money in your treasury.


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If you look up the official records of your ancestors, you will find that Jerusalem has constantly rebelled and has led others to rebel against kings and provinces. That's why the city was destroyed in the first place.


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If Jerusalem is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will no longer have control over Western Province.


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King Artaxerxes answered: Greetings to Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and to your advisors in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.


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I had the old records checked. It is true that for years Jerusalem has rebelled and caused trouble for other kings and nations.


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And powerful kings have ruled Western Province from Jerusalem and have collected all kinds of taxes.


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As soon as this letter was read, Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors went to Jerusalem and forced everyone to stop rebuilding the city.


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The Jews were forced to stop work on the temple and were not able to do any more building until the year after Darius became king of Persia.


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Then the LORD God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did.


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So Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest urged the people to start working on the temple again, and God's prophets encouraged them.


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Governor Tattenai of Western Province and his assistant Shethar Bozenai got together with some of their officials. Then they went to Jerusalem and said to the people, "Who told you to rebuild this temple?


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But God was looking after the Jewish leaders. So the governor and his group decided not to make the people stop working on the temple until they could report to Darius and get his advice.


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We went to Judah, where the temple of the great God is being built with huge stones and wooden beams set in the walls. Everyone is working hard, and the building is going up fast.


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They claimed to be servants of the God who rules heaven and earth. And they said they were rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago by one of Israel's greatest kings.


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We were told that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who took them away as captives to Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar tore down their temple,


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took its gold and silver articles, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon. They also said that during the first year Cyrus was king of Babylonia, he gave orders for God's temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem where it had stood before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar governor of Judah and sent these gold and silver articles for him to put in the temple.


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Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.


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Your Majesty, please have someone look up the old records in Babylonia and find out if King Cyrus really did give orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. We will do whatever you think we should.


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Finally, a scroll was found in Ecbatana, the capital of Media Province, and it said: This official record will show


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that in the first year Cyrus was king, he gave orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem, so that sacrifices and offerings could be presented there. It is to be built ninety feet high and ninety feet wide,


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with one row of wooden beams for each three rows of large stones. The royal treasury will pay for everything.


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Then return to their proper places the gold and silver things that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple and brought to Babylonia.


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King Darius sent this message: Governor Tattenai of Western Province and Shethar Bozenai, you and your advisors must stay away from the temple.


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Starting right now, I am ordering you to help the leaders by paying their expenses from the tax money collected in Western Province.


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And don't fail to let the priests in Jerusalem have whatever they need each day so they can offer sacrifices to the God of heaven. Give them young bulls, rams, sheep, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil.


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If any of you don't obey this order, a wooden beam will be taken from your house and sharpened on one end. Then it will be driven through your body, and your house will be torn down and turned into a garbage dump.


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I ask the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem to destroy any king or nation who tries either to change what I have said or to tear down his temple. I, Darius, give these orders, and I expect them to be followed carefully.


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With great success the Jewish leaders continued working on the temple, while Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them by their preaching. And so, the temple was completed at the command of the God of Israel and by the orders of kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes of Persia.


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On the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the rule of Darius, the temple was finished.


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The people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned from exile were happy and celebrated as they dedicated God's temple.


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One hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs were offered as sacrifices at the dedication. Also twelve goats were sacrificed as sin offerings for the twelve tribes of Israel.


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Then the priests and Levites were assigned their duties in God's temple in Jerusalem, according to the instructions Moses had written.


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The priests and Levites had gone through a ceremony to make themselves acceptable to lead in worship. Then some of them killed Passover lambs for those who had returned, including the other priests and themselves.


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The sacrifices were eaten by the Israelites who had returned and by the neighboring people who had given up the sinful customs of other nations in order to worship the LORD God of Israel.


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For seven days they celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread. Everyone was happy because the LORD God of Israel had made sure that the king of Assyria would be kind to them and help them build the temple.


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Much later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Ezra came to Jerusalem from Babylonia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah and the grandson of Azariah. His other ancestors were Hilkiah, Shallum, Zadok, Ahitub, Amariah, Azariah, Meraioth, Zerahiah, Uzzi, Bukki, Abishua, Phinehas, Eleazar, and Aaron, the high priest. Ezra was an expert in the Law that the LORD God of Israel had given to Moses, and the LORD made sure that the king gave Ezra everything he asked for.


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Other Jews, including priests, Levites, musicians, the temple guards, and servants, came to Jerusalem with Ezra. This happened during the seventh year that Artaxerxes was king.


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God helped Ezra, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month of that seventh year, after leaving Babylonia on the first day of the first month.


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Ezra was a priest and an expert in the laws and commands that the LORD had given to Israel. One day King Artaxerxes gave Ezra a letter which said:


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Greetings from the great King Artaxerxes to Ezra the priest and expert in the teachings of the God of heaven.


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Any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom may go with you to Jerusalem if they want to. My seven advisors and I agree that you may go to Jerusalem and Judah to find out if the laws of your God are being obeyed.


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When you go, take the silver and gold that I and my advisors are freely giving to the God of Israel, whose temple is in Jerusalem.


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Take the silver and gold that you collect from everywhere in Babylonia. Also take the gifts that your own people and priests have so willingly contributed for the temple of your God in Jerusalem.


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Use the money carefully to buy the best bulls, rams, lambs, grain, and wine. Then sacrifice them on the altar at God's temple in Jerusalem.


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If you need to get anything else for the temple, you may have the money you need from the royal treasury.


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Ezra, you are a priest and an expert in the laws of the God of heaven, and I order all treasurers in Western Province to do their very best to help you.


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They will be allowed to give as much as 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and all the salt you need.


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They must provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his temple, so that he won't be angry with me and with the kings who rule after me.


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We want you to know that no priests, Levites, musicians, guards, temple servants, or any other temple workers will have to pay any kind of taxes.


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Ezra, use the wisdom God has given you and choose officials and leaders to govern the people of Western Province. These leaders should know God's laws and have them taught to anyone who doesn't know them.


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Everyone who fails to obey God's Law or the king's law will be punished without pity. They will either be executed or put in prison or forced to leave their country, or have all they own taken away.


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Because King Artaxerxes was so kind, Ezra said: Praise the LORD God of our ancestors! He made sure that the king honored the LORD's temple in Jerusalem.


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God has told the king, his advisors, and his powerful officials to treat me with kindness. The LORD God has helped me, and I have been able to bring many Jewish leaders back to Jerusalem.


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Artaxerxes was king of Persia when I led the following chiefs of the family groups from Babylonia to Jerusalem:


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Gershom of the Phinehas family; Daniel of the Ithamar family; Hattush son of Shecaniah of the David family; Zechariah and 150 other men of the Parosh family, who had family records; Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah with 200 men of the Pahath Moab family; Shecaniah son of Jahaziel with 300 men of the Zattu family; Ebed son of Jonathan with 50 men of the Adin family; Jeshaiah son of Athaliah with 70 men of the Elam family; Zebadiah son of Michael with 80 men of the Shephatiah family; Obadiah son of Jehiel with 218 men of the Joab family; Shelomith son of Josiphiah with 160 men of the Bani family; Zechariah son of Bebai with 28 men of the Bebai family; Johanan son of Hakkatan with 110 men of the Azgad family; Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah who returned sometime later with 60 men of the Adonikam family; Uthai and Zaccur with 70 men of the Bigvai family.


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I brought everyone together by the river that flows to the town of Ahava where we camped for three days. Not one Levite could be found among the people and priests.


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So I sent for the leaders Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were very wise.


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Then I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, and I told them to ask him and his temple workers to send people to serve in God's temple.


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God was kind to us and had them send a skillful man named Sherebiah, who was a Levite from the family of Mahli. Eighteen of his relatives came with him.


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We were also sent Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the family of Merari along with twenty of their relatives.


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In addition, 220 others came to help the Levites in the temple. The ancestors of these workers had been chosen years ago by King David and his officials, and they were all listed by name.


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Beside the Ahava River, I asked the people to go without eating and to pray. We humbled ourselves and asked God to bring us and our children safely to Jerusalem with all of our possessions.


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I was ashamed to ask the king to send soldiers and cavalry to protect us against enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king that our God takes care of everyone who truly worships him, but that he gets very angry and punishes anyone who refuses to obey.


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Then I weighed the gifts that had been given for God's temple, and I divided them among the twelve priests I had chosen. There were gifts of silver and gold, as well as the articles that the king, his advisors and officials, and the people of Israel had contributed. In all there were: 25 tons of silver; 100 silver articles weighing 150 pounds; 7,500 pounds of gold; 20 gold bowls weighing 270 ounces; and 2 polished bronze articles as valuable as gold.


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I said to the priests: You belong to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and these things also belong to him. The silver and gold were willingly given as gifts to the LORD.


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Be sure to guard them and keep them safe until you reach Jerusalem. Then weigh them inside God's temple in the presence of the chief priests, the Levites, and the heads of the Israelite families.


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The priests and Levites then took charge of the gifts that had been weighed, so they could take them to the temple of our God in Jerusalem.


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On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava River and started for Jerusalem. Our God watched over us, and as we traveled along, he kept our enemies from ambushing us.


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Then on the fourth day we went to God's temple, where the silver, the gold, and the other things were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. With him were Eleazar son of Phinehas and the two Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.


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Those who had returned from exile offered sacrifices on the altar to the God of Israel. Twelve bulls were offered for all Israel. Ninety-six rams and seventy-seven lambs were offered on the altar. And twelve goats were sacrificed for the sins of the people.


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Some of those who had returned took the king's orders to the governors and officials in Western Province. Then the officials did what they could for the people and for the temple of God.


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Later the Jewish leaders came to me and said: Many Israelites, including priests and Levites, are living just like the people around them. They are even guilty of some of the horrible sins of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.


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Some Israelite men have married foreign women and have let their sons do the same thing. Our own officials and leaders were the first to commit this disgusting sin, and now God's holy people are mixed with foreigners.


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This news made me so angry that I ripped my clothes and tore hair from my head and beard. Then I just sat in shock


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until time for the evening sacrifice. Many of our people were greatly concerned and gathered around me, because the God of Israel had warned us to stay away from foreigners.


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At the time of the evening sacrifice, I was still sitting there in sorrow with my clothes all torn. So I got down on my knees, then lifted my arms,


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and prayed: I am much too ashamed to face you, LORD God. Our sins and our guilt have swept over us like a flood that reaches up to the heavens.


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Since the time of our ancestors, all of us have sinned. That's why we, our kings, and our priests have often been defeated by other kings. They have killed some of us and made slaves of others; they have taken our possessions and made us ashamed, just as we are today.


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But for now, LORD God, you have shown great kindness to us. You made us truly happy by letting some of us settle in this sacred place and by helping us in our time of slavery.


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We are slaves, but you have never turned your back on us. You love us, and because of you, the kings of Persia have helped us. It's as though you have given us new life! You let us rebuild your temple and live safely in Judah and Jerusalem.


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that were given to us by your servants the prophets. They said the land you are giving us is full of sinful and wicked people, who never stop doing disgusting things.


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And we were warned not to let our daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters. Your prophets also told us never to help those foreigners or even let them live in peace. You wanted us to become strong and to enjoy the good things in the land, then someday to leave it to our children forever.


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You punished us because of our terrible sins. But you did not punish us nearly as much as we deserve, and you have brought some of us back home.


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Why should we disobey your commands again by letting our sons and daughters marry these foreigners who do such disgusting things? That would make you angry enough to destroy us all!


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LORD God of Israel, you have been more than fair by letting a few of us survive. But once again, our sins have made us ashamed to face you.


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While Ezra was down on his knees in front of God's temple, praying with tears in his eyes, and confessing the sins of the people of Israel, a large number of men, women, and children gathered around him and cried bitterly.


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Shecaniah son of Jehiel from the family of Elam said: Ezra, we have disobeyed God by marrying these foreign women. But there is still hope for the people of Israel,


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if we follow your advice and the advice of others who truly respect the laws of God. We must promise God that we will divorce our foreign wives and send them away, together with their children.


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Ezra stood up and made the chief priests, the Levites, and everyone else in Israel swear that they would follow the advice of Shecaniah.


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Then Ezra left God's temple and went to spend the night in the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He felt sorry for what the people had done, and he did not eat or drink a thing.


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The officials and leaders sent a message to all who had returned from Babylonia and were now living in Jerusalem and Judah. It told them to meet in Jerusalem within three days, or else they would lose everything they owned and would no longer be considered part of the people that had returned from Babylonia.


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Three days later, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, everyone from Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and sat in the temple courtyard. It was a serious meeting, and they sat there, trembling in the rain.


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Ezra the priest stood up and said: You have broken God's Law by marrying foreign women, and you have made the whole nation guilty!


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Now you must confess your sins to the LORD God of your ancestors and obey him. Divorce your foreign wives and don't have anything to do with the rest of the foreigners who live around here.


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But there are so many of us, and we can't just stay out here in this downpour. A lot of us have sinned by marrying foreign women, and the matter can't be settled in only a day or two.


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Why can't our officials stay on in Jerusalem and take care of this for us? Let everyone who has sinned in this way meet here at a certain time with leaders and judges from their own towns. If we take care of this problem, God will surely stop being so terribly angry with us.


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Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah were the only ones who objected, except for the two Levites, Meshullam and Shabbethai.


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Everyone else who had returned from exile agreed with the plan. So Ezra the priest chose men who were heads of the families, and he listed their names. They started looking into the matter on the first day of the tenth month,


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Here is a list of the priests who had agreed to divorce their foreign wives and to sacrifice a ram as a sin offering: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah from the family of Joshua son of Jozadak and his brothers;


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Those Levites who had foreign wives were: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also known as Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


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Eliashib, the musician, had a foreign wife. These temple guards had foreign wives: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.


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Here is a list of the others from Israel who had foreign wives: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah from the family of Parosh;


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Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh from the family of Pahath Moab;


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Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah from the family of Harim;


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Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu from the family of Bani;


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Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph from the family of Binnui;


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I am Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and in this book I tell what I have done. During the month of Chislev in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes ruled Persia, I was in his fortress city of Susa,


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when my brother Hanani came with some men from Judah. So I asked them about the Jews who had escaped from being captives in Babylonia. I also asked them about the city of Jerusalem.


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They told me, "Those captives who have come back are having all kinds of troubles. They are terribly disgraced, Jerusalem's walls are broken down, and its gates have been burned."


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When I heard this, I sat down and cried. Then for several days, I mourned; I went without eating to show my sorrow, and I prayed:


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LORD God of heaven, you are great and fearsome. And you faithfully keep your promises to everyone who loves you and obeys your commands.


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I am your servant, so please have mercy on me and answer the prayer that I make day and night for these people of Israel who serve you. I, my family, and the rest of your people have sinned


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Please remember the promise you made to Moses. You told him that if we were unfaithful, you would scatter us among foreign nations.


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But you also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to you and start obeying your laws. Then you would bring us back to the place where you have chosen to be worshiped.


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Our LORD, I am praying for your servants--those you rescued by your great strength and mighty power.


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Please answer my prayer and the prayer of your other servants who gladly honor your name. When I serve the king his wine today, make him pleased with me and have him do what I ask.


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During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was king, I served him his wine, as I had done before. But this was the first time I had ever looked depressed.


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So the king said, "Why do you look so sad? You're not sick. Something must be bothering you." Even though I was frightened,


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I answered, "Your Majesty, I hope you live forever! I feel sad because the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and its gates have been burned down."


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Then I told the king, "Sir, if it's all right with you, please send me back to Judah, so that I can rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried."


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The queen was sitting beside the king when he asked me, "How long will it take, and when will you be back?" The king agreed to let me go, and I told him when I would return.


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Then I asked, "Your Majesty, would you be willing to give me letters to the governors of the provinces west of the Euphrates River, so that I can travel safely to Judah?


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I will need timber to rebuild the gates of the fortress near the temple and more timber to construct the city wall and to build a place for me to live. And so, I would appreciate a letter to Asaph, who is in charge of the royal forest." God was good to me, and the king did everything I asked.


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The king sent some army officers and cavalry troops along with me, and as I traveled through the Western Provinces, I gave the letters to the governors.


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But when Sanballat from Horon and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about what had happened, they became very angry, because they didn't want anyone to help the people of Israel.


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I got up during the night and left my house. I took some men with me, without telling anyone what I thought God wanted me to do for the city. The only animal I took was the donkey I rode on.


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I went through Valley Gate on the west, then south past Dragon Spring, before coming to Garbage Gate. As I rode along, I took a good look at the crumbled walls of the city and the gates that had been torn down and burned.


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On the east side of the city, I headed north to Fountain Gate and King's Pool, but then the trail became too narrow for my donkey.


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So I went down to Kidron Valley and looked at the wall from there. Then before daylight I returned to the city through Valley Gate.


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None of the city officials knew what I had in mind. And I had not even told any of the Jews--not the priests, the leaders, the officials, or any other Jews who would be helping in the work.


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But when I got back, I said to them, "Jerusalem is truly in a mess! The gates have been torn down and burned, and everything is in ruins. We must rebuild the city wall so that we can again take pride in our city."


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Then I told them how kind God had been and what the king had said. Immediately, they replied, "Let's start building now!" So they got everything ready.


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When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard about our plans, they started insulting us and saying, "Just look at you! Do you plan to rebuild the walls of the city and rebel against the king?"


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I answered, "We are servants of the God who rules from heaven, and he will make our work succeed. So we will start rebuilding Jerusalem, but you have no right to any of its property, because you have had no part in its history."


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These are the people who helped rebuild the wall and gates of Jerusalem: The high priest Eliashib and the other priests rebuilt Sheep Gate and hung its doors. Then they dedicated Sheep Gate and the section of the wall as far as Hundred Tower and Hananel Tower.


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The people of Jericho rebuilt the next section of the wall, and Zaccur son of Imri rebuilt the section after that.


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The family of Hassenaah built Fish Gate. They put the beams in place and hung the doors, then they added metal bolts and wooden beams as locks.


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Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, completed the next section of the wall. Meshullam, son of Berechiah and grandson of Meshezabel, rebuilt the next section, and Zadok son of Baana rebuilt the section beside that.


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The next section was to be repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their town leaders refused to do the hard work they were assigned.


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Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah restored Ancient Gate. They put the beams in place, hung the doors, and added metal bolts and wooden beams as locks.


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Melatiah from Gibeon, Jadon from Meronoth, and the men from Gibeon and Mizpah rebuilt the next section of the wall. This section reached as far as the house of the governor of West Euphrates Province.


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Uzziel son of Harhaiah the goldsmith rebuilt the next section. Hananiah the perfume maker rebuilt the section next after that, and it went as far as Broad Wall.


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Rephaiah son of Hur ruled half of the Jerusalem District, and he rebuilt the next section of the wall.


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The section after that was close to the home of Jedaiah son of Harumaph, and he rebuilt it. Hattush son of Hashabneiah constructed the next section of the wall.


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Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath Moab rebuilt the section after that, and they also built Oven Tower.


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Shallum son of Hallohesh ruled the other half of the Jerusalem District, and he rebuilt the next section of the wall. Shallum's daughters also worked with him.


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Hanun and the people who lived in the town of Zanoah rebuilt Valley Gate. They hung the doors and added metal bolts and wooden beams as locks. They also rebuilt the wall for fifteen hundred feet, all the way to Garbage Gate.


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Malchijah son of Rechab ruled the district of Beth-Haccherem, and he rebuilt Garbage Gate. He hung the doors and added metal bolts and wooden beams as locks.


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Shallum son of Colhozeh ruled the district of Mizpah, and he rebuilt Fountain Gate. He put a cover over the gateway, then hung the doors and added metal bolts and wooden beams as locks. He also rebuilt the wall at Shelah Pool. This section was next to the king's garden and went as far as the stairs leading down from David's City.


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Nehemiah son of Azbuk ruled half of the district of Beth-Zur, and he rebuilt the next section of the wall. It went as far as the royal cemetery, the artificial pool, and the army barracks.


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The Levites who worked on the next sections of the wall were Rehum son of Bani; Hashabiah, who ruled half of the district of Keilah and did this work for his district;


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Ezer son of Jeshua, who ruled Mizpah, rebuilt the section of the wall that was in front of the armory and reached to the corner of the wall;


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Baruch son of Zabbai eagerly rebuilt the section of the wall that went all the way to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest;


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Here is a list of the priests who worked on the wall: Priests from the region around Jerusalem rebuilt the next section of the wall.


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Benjamin and Hasshub rebuilt the wall in front of their own houses. Azariah, who was the son of Maaseiah and the grandson of Ananiah, rebuilt the section in front of his house.


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Binnui son of Henadad rebuilt the section of the wall from Azariah's house to the corner of the wall.


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Palal son of Uzai rebuilt the next section, which began at the corner of the wall and the tower of the upper palace near the court of the guard. Pedaiah son of Parosh rebuilt the next section of the wall.


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He stopped at a place near the Water Gate on the east and the tower guarding the temple. This was close to a section in the city called Ophel, where the temple workers lived.


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The men from Tekoa rebuilt the next section of the wall, and it was their second section. It started at a place across from the large tower that guarded the Temple, and it went all the way to the wall near Ophel.


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Some priests rebuilt the next section of the wall. They began working north of Horse Gate, and each one worked on a section in front of his own house.


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Zadok son of Immer rebuilt the wall in front of his house. Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, who looked after the East Gate, rebuilt the section after that.


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Hananiah and Hanun rebuilt the next section, which was the second section for them. Meshullam son of Berechiah rebuilt the next section, which happened to be in front of his house.


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Malchijah, a goldsmith, rebuilt the next section, as far as the house used by the temple workers and merchants. This area was across from Gathering Gate, near the room on top of the wall at the northeast corner.


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The goldsmiths and merchants rebuilt the last section of the wall, which went from the corner room all the way to Sheep Gate.


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When Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, heard that we were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he became angry and started insulting our people.


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In front of his friends and the Samaritan army he said, "What is this feeble bunch of Jews trying to do? Are they going to rebuild the wall and offer sacrifices all in one day? Do they think they can make something out of this pile of scorched stones?"


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Tobiah from Ammon was standing beside Sanballat and said, "Look at the wall they are building! Why, even a fox could knock over this pile of stones."


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But I prayed, "Our God, these people hate us and have wished horrible things for us. Please answer our prayers and make their insults fall on them! Let them be the ones to be dragged away as prisoners of war.


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But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from the city of Ashdod saw the walls going up and the holes being repaired. So they became angry


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Meanwhile, the people of Judah were singing a sorrowful song: "So much rubble for us to haul! Worn out and weary, will we ever finish this wall?"


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Our enemies were saying, "Before those Jews know what has happened, we will sneak up and kill them and put an end to their work."


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On at least ten different occasions, the Jews living near our enemies warned us against attacks from every side,


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and so I sent people to guard the wall at its lowest places and where there were still holes in it. I placed them according to families, and they stood guard with swords and spears and with bows and arrows.


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Then I looked things over and told the leaders, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of your enemies! The Lord is great and fearsome. So think of him and fight for your relatives and children, your wives and homes!"


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Our enemies found out that we knew about their plot against us, but God kept them from doing what they had planned. So we went back to work on the wall.


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From then on, I let half of the young men work while the other half stood guard. They wore armor and had spears and shields, as well as bows and arrows. The leaders helped the workers


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who were rebuilding the wall. Everyone who hauled building materials kept one hand free to carry a weapon.


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Even the workers who were rebuilding the wall strapped on a sword. The worker who was to blow the signal trumpet stayed with me.


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I told the people and their officials and leaders, "Our work is so spread out, that we are a long way from one another.


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If you hear the sound of the trumpet, come quickly and gather around me. Our God will help us fight."


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Every day from dawn to dark, half of the workers rebuilt the walls, while the rest stood guard with their spears.


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I asked the men in charge and their workers to stay inside Jerusalem and stand guard at night. So they guarded the city at night and worked during the day.


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I even slept in my work clothes at night; my children, the workers, and the guards slept in theirs as well. And we always kept our weapons close by.


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Others said, "During the famine we even had to mortgage our fields, vineyards, and homes to them in order to buy grain."


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Then others said, "We had to borrow money from those in power to pay the government tax on our fields and vineyards.


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We are Jews just as they are, and our children are as good as theirs. But we still have to sell our children as slaves, and some of our daughters have already been raped. We are completely helpless; our fields and vineyards have even been taken from us."


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So I thought it over and said to the leaders and officials, "How can you charge your own people interest?" Then I called a public meeting and accused the leaders


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by saying, "We have tried to buy back all of our people who were sold into exile. But here you are, selling more of them for us to buy back!" The officials and leaders did not say a word, because they knew this was true.


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I continued, "What you have done is wrong! We must honor our God by the way we live, so the Gentiles can't find fault with us.


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My relatives, my friends, and I are also lending money and grain, but we must no longer demand payment in return.


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Now give back the fields, vineyards, olive orchards, and houses you have taken and also the interest you have been paid."


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The leaders answered, "We will do whatever you say and return their property, without asking to be repaid." So I made the leaders promise in front of the priests to give back the property.


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Then I emptied my pockets and said, "If you don't keep your promise, that's what God will do to you. He will empty out everything you own, even taking away your houses." The people answered, "We will keep our promise." Then they praised the LORD and did as they had promised.


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I was governor of Judah from the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was king until the thirty-second year. And during these entire twelve years, my relatives and I refused to accept the food that I was allowed.


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Each governor before me had been a burden to the people by making them pay for his food and wine and by demanding forty silver coins a day. Even their officials had been a burden to the people. But I respected God, and I didn't think it was right to be so hard on them.


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I spent all my time getting the wall rebuilt and did not buy any property. Everyone working for me did the same thing.


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I usually fed a hundred fifty of our own Jewish people and their leaders, as well as foreign visitors from surrounding lands.


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Each day one ox, six of the best sheep, and lots of chickens were prepared. Then every ten days, a large supply of wine was brought in. I knew what a heavy burden this would have been for the people, and so I did not ask for my food allowance as governor.


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Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies learned that I had completely rebuilt the wall. All I lacked was hanging the doors in the gates.


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Then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message, asking me to meet with them in one of the villages in Ono Valley. I knew they were planning to harm me in some way.


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So I sent messengers to tell them, "My work is too important to stop now and go there. I can't afford to slow down the work just to visit with you."


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which said: A rumor is going around among the nations that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall and planning to rebel, because you want to be their king. And Geshem says it's true!


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You even have prophets in Jerusalem, claiming you are now the king of Judah. You know the Persian king will hear about this, so let's get together and talk it over.


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Our enemies were trying to frighten us and to keep us from our work. But I asked God to give me strength.


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One day I went to visit Shemaiah. He was looking very worried, and he said, "Let's hurry to the holy place of the temple and hide there. We will lock the temple doors, because your enemies are planning to kill you tonight."


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I answered, "Why should someone like me have to run and hide in the temple to save my life? I won't go!"


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Suddenly I realized that God had not given Shemaiah this message. But Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him to trick me


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Then I asked God to punish Tobiah and Sanballat for what they had done. I prayed that God would punish the prophet Noadiah and the other prophets who, together with her, had tried to frighten me.


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On the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, the wall was completely rebuilt. It had taken fifty-two days.


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When our enemies in the surrounding nations learned that the work was finished, they felt helpless, because they knew that our God had helped us rebuild the wall.


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Many people in Judah were loyal to Tobiah for two reasons: Shecaniah son of Arah was his father-in-law, and Tobiah's son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.


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The people would always tell me about the good things Tobiah had done, and then they would tell Tobiah everything I had said. So Tobiah kept sending letters, trying to frighten me.


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After the wall had been rebuilt and the gates hung, then the temple guards, the singers, and the other Levites were assigned their work.


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I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, because Hananiah could be trusted, and he respected God more than most people did.


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I said to them, "Don't let the gates to the city be opened until the sun has been up for a while. And make sure that they are closed and barred before the guards go off duty at sunset. Choose people from Jerusalem to stand guard at different places around the wall and others to stand guard near their own houses."


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Although Jerusalem covered a large area, not many people lived there, and no new houses had been built.


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So God gave me the idea to bring together the people, their leaders, and officials and to check the family records of those who had returned from captivity in Babylonia, after having been taken there by King Nebuchadnezzar. About this same time, I found records of those who had been the first to return to Jerusalem from Babylon Province. By reading these records, I learned that they settled in their own hometowns,


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and that they had come with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.


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Here is how many had returned from each family group: 2,172 from Parosh; 372 from Shephatiah; 652 from Arah; 2,818 from Pahath Moab, who were all descendants of Jeshua and Joab; 1,254 from Elam; 845 from Zattu; 760 from Zaccai; 648 from Binnui; 628 from Bebai; 2,322 from Azgad; 667 from Adonikam; 2,067 from Bigvai; 655 from Adin; 98 from Ater, also known as Hezekiah; 328 from Hashum; 324 from Bezai; 112 from Hariph; and 95 from Gibeon.


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Here is how many people returned whose ancestors had come from the following towns: 188 from Bethlehem and Netophah; 128 from Anathoth; 42 from Beth-Azmaveth; 743 from Kiriath-Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth; 621 from Ramah and Geba; 122 from Michmas; 123 from Bethel and Ai; 52 from Nebo; 1,254 from Elam; 320 from Harim; 345 from Jericho; 721 from Lod, Hadid, and Ono; and 3,930 from Senaah.


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Here is how many returned from each family of priests: 973 descendants of Jeshua from Jedaiah; 1,052 from Immer; 1,247 from Pashhur; and 1,017 from Harim.


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Here is how many returned from the families of Levites: 74 descendants of Hodevah from the families of Jeshua and Kadmiel; 148 descendants of Asaph from the temple musicians; and 138 descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai from the temple guards.


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Here are the names of the families of temple workers whose descendants returned: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Sia, Padon, Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Meunim, Nephushesim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah, and Hatipha.


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Here are the names of Solomon's servants whose descendants returned: Sotai, Sophereth, Perida, Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Amon.


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There were 642 who returned from the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, though they could not prove they were Israelites. They had lived in the Babylonian towns of Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer.


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The families of Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai could not prove they were priests. The ancestor of the family of Barzillai had married the daughter of Barzillai from Gilead and had taken his wife's family name. But the records of these three families could not be found, and none of them were allowed to serve as priests.


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In fact, the governor told them, "You cannot eat the food offered to God until he lets us know if you really are priests."


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There were 42,360 who returned, in addition to 7,337 servants, and 245 musicians. Altogether, they brought with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.


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Many people gave gifts to help pay for the materials to rebuild the temple. The governor himself gave 17 pounds of gold, 50 bowls to be used in the temple, and 530 robes for the priests. Family leaders gave 337 pounds of gold and 3,215 pounds of silver. The rest of the people gave 337 pounds of gold, 2,923 pounds of silver, and 67 robes for the priests.


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And so, by the seventh month, priests, Levites, temple guards, musicians, workers, and many of the ordinary people had settled in the towns of Judah.


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On the first day of the seventh month, the people came together in the open area in front of the Water Gate. Then they asked Ezra, who was a teacher of the Law of Moses, to read to them from this Law that the LORD had given his people. Ezra the priest came with the Law and stood before the crowd of men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand.


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Ezra stood on a high wooden platform that had been built for this occasion. Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah were standing to his right, while Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash Baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam were standing to his left.


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Ezra was up on the high platform, where he could be seen by everyone, and when he opened the book, they all stood up.


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Ezra praised the great LORD God, and the people shouted, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed with their faces to the ground and worshiped the LORD.


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After this, the Levites Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah went among the people, explaining the meaning of what Ezra had read.


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The people started crying when God's Law was read to them. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher, and the Levites who had been teaching the people all said, "This is a special day for the LORD your God. So don't be sad and don't cry!"


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Nehemiah told the people, "Enjoy your good food and wine and share some with those who didn't have anything to bring. Don't be sad! This is a special day for the LORD, and he will make you happy and strong."


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When the people returned to their homes, they celebrated by eating and drinking and by sharing their food with those in need, because they had understood what had been read to them.


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On the second day of the seventh month, the leaders of all the family groups came together with the priests and the Levites, so Ezra could teach them the Law


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that the LORD had given to Moses. They learned from the Law that the people of Israel were to live in shelters when they celebrated the festival in the seventh month of the year.


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They also learned that they were to go into the woods and gather branches of leafy trees such as olives, myrtles, and palms for making these shelters.


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So the people gathered branches and made shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the courtyard of the temple, and in the open areas around the Water Gate and Ephraim Gate.


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Everyone who had returned from Babylonia built shelters. They lived in them and joyfully celebrated the Festival of Shelters for the first time since the days of Joshua son of Nun.


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On each of the first seven days of the festival, Ezra read to the people from God's Law. Then on the eighth day, everyone gathered for worship, just as the Law had said they must.


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On the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month, the people of Israel went without eating, and they dressed in sackcloth and threw dirt on their heads to show their sorrow.


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They refused to let foreigners join them, as they met to confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors.


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For three hours they stood and listened to the Law of the LORD their God, and then for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD.


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Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the special platform for the Levites and prayed aloud to the LORD their God.


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Then the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said: "Stand and shout praises to your LORD, the eternal God! Praise his wonderful name, though he is greater than words can express."


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You alone are the LORD, Creator of the heavens and all the stars, Creator of the earth and those who live on it, Creator of the ocean and all its creatures. You are the source of life, praised by the stars that fill the heavens.


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You are the LORD our God, the one who chose Abram-- you brought him from Ur in Babylonia and named him Abraham.


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Because he was faithful, you made an agreement to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, and of the Jebusites and Girgashites. Now you have kept your promise, just as you always do.


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When our ancestors were in Egypt, you saw their suffering; when they were at the Red Sea, you heard their cry for help.


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You knew that the King of Egypt and his officials and his nation had mistreated your people. So you worked fearsome miracles against the Egyptians and earned a reputation that still remains.


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You divided the deep sea, and your people walked through on dry land. But you tossed their enemies in, and they sank down like a heavy stone.


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Each day you led your people with a thick cloud, and at night you showed the way with a flaming fire.


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At Sinai you came down from heaven, and you gave your people good laws and teachings that are fair and honest.


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You commanded them to respect your holy Sabbath, and you instructed your servant Moses to teach them your laws.


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When they were hungry, you sent bread from heaven, and when they were thirsty, you let water flow from a rock. Then you commanded them to capture the land that you had solemnly promised. *


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Our stubborn ancestors refused to obey-- they forgot about the miracles you had worked for them, and they were determined to return to Egypt and become slaves again.


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But, our God, you are merciful and quick to forgive; you are loving, kind, and very patient. So you never turned away from them--


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not even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and insulted you by claiming, "This is the god who rescued us from Egypt."


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Because of your great mercy, you never abandoned them in the desert. And you always guided them with a cloud by day and a fire at night.


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You took good care of them, and for forty years they never lacked a thing. Their shoes didn't wear out, and their feet were never swollen.


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You let them conquer kings and take their land, including King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan.


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You brought them into the land that you had promised their ancestors, and you blessed their nation with people that outnumbered the stars in the sky.


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Then their descendants conquered the land. You helped them defeat the kings and nations and treat their enemies however they wished.


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They captured strong cities and rich farmland; they took furnished houses, as well as cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and numerous fruit trees. They ate till they were satisfied, and they celebrated your abundant blessings.


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In spite of this, they rebelled and disobeyed your laws. They killed your prophets, who warned them to turn back to you, and they cursed your name.


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So you handed them over to their enemies, who treated them terribly. But in their sufferings, they begged you to help. From heaven you listened to their prayers and because of your great mercy, you sent leaders to rescue them.


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But when they were at peace, they would turn against you, and you would hand them over to their enemies. Then they would beg for help, and because you are merciful, you rescued them over and over again.


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You warned them to turn back and discover true life by obeying your laws. But they stubbornly refused and continued to sin.


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For years, you were patient, and your Spirit warned them with messages spoken by your prophets. Still they refused to listen, and you handed them over to their enemies.


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Our God, you are powerful, fearsome, and faithful, always true to your word. So please keep in mind the terrible sufferings of our people, kings, leaders, priests, and prophets, from the time Assyria ruled until this very day.


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You blessed them with a kingdom and with an abundance of rich, fertile land, but they refused to worship you or turn from their evil.


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Its plentiful harvest is taken by kings you placed over us because of our sins. Our suffering is unbearable, because they do as they wish to us and our livestock.


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And so, a firm agreement was made that had the official approval of the leaders, the Levites, and priests.


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Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.


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All of us, including priests, Levites, temple guards, singers, temple workers and leaders, together with our wives and children, have separated ourselves from the foreigners in this land and now enter into an agreement with a complete understanding of what we are doing. And so, we now place ourselves under the curse of the LORD our God, if we fail to obey his laws and teachings that were given to us by his servant Moses.


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We won't buy goods or grain on the Sabbath or on any other sacred day, not even from foreigners. Every seven years we will let our fields rest, and we will cancel all debts.


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This is to pay for the sacred bread, as well as for the daily sacrifices and special sacrifices such as those offered on the Sabbath and during the New Moon Festival and the other festivals. It will also pay for the sacrifices to forgive our sins and for all expenses connected with the worship of God in the temple.


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We have decided that the families of priests, Levites, and ordinary people will supply firewood for the temple each year, so that sacrifices can be offered on the altar, just as the LORD our God has commanded.


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We will bring our first-born sons and the first-born males of our herds and flocks and offer them to the priests who serve in the temple, because this is what is written in God's Law.


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To the priests in the temple of our God, we will bring the bread dough from the first harvest, together with our best fruit, and an offering of new wine and olive oil. We will bring ten percent of our grain harvest to those Levites who are responsible for collecting it in our towns.


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A priest from the family of Aaron must be there when we give this to the Levites. Then the Levites will put one tenth of this part in the temple storeroom,


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which is also the place for the sacred objects used by the priests, the temple guards, and the singers. Levites and everyone else must bring their gifts of grain, wine, and olive oil to this room. We will not neglect the temple of our God.


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The nation's leaders and their families settled in Jerusalem. But there was room for only one out of every ten of the remaining families, and so they asked God to show them who would live there.


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Some of the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple workers, and the descendants of Solomon's servants lived on their own property in the towns of Judah. But the leaders of the province lived in Jerusalem with their families.


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From the Judah tribe, two leaders settled in Jerusalem with their relatives. One of them was Athaiah son of Uzziah. His ancestors were Zechariah, Amariah, Shephatiah, Mahalalel, and Perez, the son of Judah. From the descendants of Perez, four hundred sixty-eight of the best men lived in Jerusalem. The other leader from Judah was Maaseiah the son of Baruch. His ancestors were Colhozeh, Hazaiah, Adaiah, Joiarib, Zechariah, and Shelah, the son of Judah.


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From the Benjamin tribe, three leaders settled in Jerusalem. The first was Sallu son of Meshullam, and the others were Gabbai and Sallai. Sallu's ancestors were Joed, Pedaiah, Kolaiah, Maaseiah, Ithiel, and Jeshaiah. Altogether, there were nine hundred twenty-eight men of the Benjamin tribe living in Jerusalem.


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Four priests settled in Jerusalem. The first was Jedaiah; he was the son of Joiarib and the uncle of Jachin.


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The second priest to settle there was Seraiah son of Hilkiah. His ancestors were Meshullam, Zadok, Meraioth, and Ahitub, who had been a high priest.


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Altogether, there were eight hundred twenty-two from his clan who served in the temple. The third priest to settle there was Adaiah son of Jeroham. His ancestors were Pelaliah, Amzi, Zechariah, Pashhur, and Malchijah.


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Altogether, there were two hundred forty-two clan leaders among his relatives. The fourth priest to settle there was Amashsai son of Azarel. His ancestors were Ahzai, Meshillemoth, and Immer.


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Altogether, there were one hundred twenty-eight brave warriors from their clans, and their leader was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.


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Several Levites settled in Jerusalem. First, there was Shemaiah son of Hasshub. His ancestors were Azrikam, Hashabiah, and Bunni.


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Then there was Mattaniah son of Mica. His ancestors were Zabdi and Asaph. Mattaniah led the temple choir in the prayer of praise. Bakbukiah, who also settled in Jerusalem, was his assistant. Finally, there was Abda son of Shammua; his grandfather was Galal, and his great-grandfather was Jeduthun.


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The rest of the Israelites, including priests and Levites, lived on their own property in the other towns of Judah.


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But the temple workers lived in the section of Jerusalem known as Ophel, and the two men in charge of them were Ziha and Gishpa.


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Uzzi son of Bani was the leader of the Levites in Jerusalem. His grandfather was Hashabiah, his great-grandfather was Mattaniah, and his great-great-grandfather was Mica. He belonged to the Asaph clan that was in charge of the music for the temple services,


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The people of Israel were represented at the Persian court by Pethahiah son of Meshezabel from the Zerah clan of the Judah tribe.


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Some of the people of Judah lived in the following towns near their farms: Kiriath-Arba, Dibon, Jekabzeel,


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Zanoah, Adullam, Lachish, and Azekah. In fact, they settled the towns from Beersheba in the south to Hinnom Valley in the north.


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Several groups of Levites from the territory of Judah were sent to live among the people of Benjamin.


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Many priests and Levites had returned from Babylonia with Zerubbabel and Joshua as their leaders. Those priests were Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


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Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and another Jedaiah. These were the leading priests and their assistants during the time of Joshua.


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The Levites who returned were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah. They and their assistants were responsible for the songs of praise,


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while Bakbukiah and Unno, together with their assistants, were responsible for the choral responses.


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When Joiakim was high priest, the following priests were leaders of their clans: Meraiah of the Seraiah clan, Hananiah of Jeremiah,


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During the time of the high priests Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, and including the time that Darius was king of Persia, a record was kept of the heads of the Levite and priestly families.


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However, no official record was kept of the heads of the Levite clans after the death of Johanan, the grandson of Eliashib.


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Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their assistants organized two choirs of Levites to offer praises to God, just as King David, the man of God, had commanded.


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Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were responsible for guarding the storerooms near the temple gates.


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All of these men lived during the time of Joiakim and during the time that I was governor and Ezra, a teacher of the Law of Moses, was priest.


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When the city wall was dedicated, Levites from everywhere in Judah were invited to join in the celebration with songs of praise and with the music of cymbals, small harps, and other stringed instruments.


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The Levite singers lived in villages around Jerusalem, and so they came from there, as well as from the villages around Netophah, Beth-Gilgal, Geba, and Azmaveth.


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The priests and Levites held special ceremonies to make themselves holy, and then they did the same for the rest of the people and for the gates and walls of the city.


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I brought the leaders of Judah to the top of the city wall and put them in charge of the two groups that were to march around on top of the wall, singing praises to God. One group marched to the right in the direction of Garbage Gate.


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and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They played musical instruments like those that had been played by David, the man of God. And they marched behind Ezra, the teacher of the Law.


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When they reached Fountain Gate, they climbed the steps to David's City and went past his palace, before stopping at the Water Gate near the eastern wall of the city.


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The second group of singers marched along the wall in the opposite direction, and I followed them, together with the other half of the leaders of Judah. We went past Oven Tower, Broad Wall,


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Ephraim Gate, Old Gate, Fish Gate, Hananel Tower, Hundred Tower, and on to Sheep Gate. Finally, we stopped at Gate of the Guard,


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where we stood in front of the temple with the other group, praising God. In the group with me were half of the leaders,


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as well as the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, who were blowing trumpets.


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Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer also stood there, as Jezrahiah led the singers.


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God had made the people very happy, and so on that day they celebrated and offered many sacrifices. The women and children joined in the festivities, and joyful shouts could be heard far from the city of Jerusalem.


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On that same day, some leaders were appointed to be responsible for the safekeeping of gifts for the temple and to be in charge of receiving the first part of the harvest and the ten percent of the crops and livestock that was offered to God. These same leaders also collected the part of crops that the Law of Moses taught was to be given to the Levites. Everyone was pleased with the work of the priests and Levites,


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when they performed the ceremonies to make people acceptable to worship God. And the singers and the temple guards did their jobs according to the instructions given by David and his son Solomon.


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In fact, ever since the days of David and Asaph, there had been song leaders and songs of praise and worship.


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During the time that Zerubbabel and I were in charge, everyone in Israel gave what they were supposed to give for the daily needs of the singers and temple guards from the Levi tribe. Then the Levites would give the priests their share from what they had received.


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On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God.


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This was because they had refused to give food and water to Israel and had hired Balaam to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.


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Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.


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The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms.


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So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored--the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.


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This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king


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to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple.


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Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.


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I also found out that the temple singers and several other Levites had returned to work on their farms, because they had not been given their share of the harvest.


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I called the leaders together and angrily asked them, "Why is the temple neglected?" Then I told them to start doing their jobs.


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After this, everyone in Judah brought a tenth of their grain, wine, and olive oil to the temple storeroom.


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Finally, I appointed three men with good reputations to be in charge of what was brought there and to distribute it to the others. They were Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher of the Law, and Pedaiah the Levite. Their assistant was Hanan, the son of Zaccur and the grandson of Mattaniah.


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I pray that my God will remember these good things that I have done for his temple and for those who worship there.


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I also noticed what the people of Judah were doing on the Sabbath. Not only were they trampling grapes to make wine, but they were harvesting their grain, grapes, figs, and other crops, and then loading these on donkeys to sell in Jerusalem. So I warned them not to sell food on the Sabbath.


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People who had moved to Jerusalem from the city of Tyre were bringing in fish and other things to sell there on the Sabbath.


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Didn't God punish us and this city because our ancestors did these very same things? And here you are, about to make God furious again by disgracing the Sabbath!"


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I ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the eve of the Sabbath and not to be opened until after the Sabbath had ended. Then I put some of my own men in charge of the gates to make certain that nothing was brought in on the Sabbath.


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But I warned them, "If you do this again, I'll have you arrested." From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath.


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I ordered the Levites to make themselves holy and to guard the gates on the Sabbath, so that it would be kept holy. God is truly merciful, and I pray that he will treat me with kindness and bless me for doing this.


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About half of their children could not speak Hebrew--they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language.


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So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise: In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners.


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God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin.


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Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon, and I forced his son to leave.


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Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites.


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I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple. I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.


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King Xerxes of Persia lived in his capital city of Susa and ruled one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia.


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During the third year of his rule, Xerxes gave a big dinner for all his officials and officers. The governors and leaders of the provinces were also invited, and even the commanders of the Persian and Median armies came.


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For one hundred eighty days he showed off his wealth and spent a lot of money to impress his guests with the greatness of his kingdom.


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King Xerxes soon gave another dinner and invited everyone in the city of Susa, no matter who they were. The eating and drinking lasted seven days in the beautiful palace gardens.


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The area was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains tied back with purple linen cords that ran through silver rings fastened to marble columns. Couches of gold and silver rested on pavement that had all kinds of designs made from costly bright-colored stones and marble and mother-of-pearl.


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While the men were enjoying themselves, Queen Vashti gave the women a big dinner inside the royal palace.


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By the seventh day, King Xerxes was feeling happy because of so much wine. And he asked his seven personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas,


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to bring Queen Vashti to him. The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and his officials see how beautiful she was.


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The king's servants told Queen Vashti what he had said, but she refused to go to him, and this made him terribly angry.


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The king called in the seven highest officials of Persia and Media. They were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These men were very wise and understood all the laws and customs of the country, and the king always asked them what they thought about such matters.


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The king said to them, "Queen Vashti refused to come to me when I sent my servants for her. What does the law say I should do about that?"


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Then Memucan told the king and the officials: Your Majesty, Queen Vashti has not only embarrassed you, but she has insulted your officials and everyone else in all the provinces.


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The women in the kingdom will hear about this, and they will refuse to respect their husbands. They will say, "If Queen Vashti doesn't obey her husband, why should we?"


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Before this day is over, the wives of the officials of Persia and Media will find out what Queen Vashti has done, and they will refuse to obey their husbands. They won't respect their husbands, and their husbands will be angry with them.


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Your Majesty, if you agree, you should write for the Medes and Persians a law that can never be changed. This law would keep Queen Vashti from ever seeing you again. Then you could let someone who respects you be queen in her place.


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When the women in your great kingdom hear about this new law, they will respect their husbands, no matter if they are rich or poor.


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and he sent letters to all of his provinces. Each letter was written in the language of the province to which it was sent, and it said that husbands should have complete control over their wives and children.


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After a while, King Xerxes got over being angry. But he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and the law that he had written because of her.


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Then the king's personal servants said: Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women.


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You can select officers in every province to bring them to the place where you keep your wives in the capital city of Susa. Put your servant Hegai in charge of them since that is his job. He can see to it that they are given the proper beauty treatments.


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Then let the young woman who pleases you most take Vashti's place as queen. King Xerxes liked these suggestions, and he followed them.


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At this time a Jew named Mordecai was living in Susa. His father was Jair, and his grandfather Shimei was the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin.


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Kish was one of the people that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem, when he took King Jeconiah of Judah to Babylonia.


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Mordecai had a very beautiful cousin named Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah. He had raised her as his own daughter, after her father and mother died.


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When the king ordered the search for beautiful women, many were taken to the king's palace in Susa, and Esther was one of them. Hegai was put in charge of all the women,


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and from the first day, Esther was his favorite. He began her beauty treatments at once. He also gave her plenty of food and seven special maids from the king's palace, and they had the best rooms.


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He was anxious to see how Esther was getting along and to learn what had happened to her. So each day he would walk back and forth in front of the court where the women lived.


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The young women were given beauty treatments for one whole year. The first six months their skin was rubbed with olive oil and myrrh, and the last six months it was treated with perfumes and cosmetics. Then each of them spent the night alone with King Xerxes.


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When a young woman went to the king, she could wear whatever clothes or jewelry she chose from the women's living quarters.


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In the evening she would go to the king, and the following morning she would go to the place where his wives stayed after being with him. There a man named Shaashgaz was in charge of the king's wives. Only the ones the king wanted and asked for by name could go back to the king.


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Xerxes had been king for seven years when Esther's turn came to go to him during Tebeth, the tenth month of the year. Everyone liked Esther. The king's personal servant Hegai was in charge of the women, and Esther trusted Hegai and asked him what she ought to take with her.


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Xerxes liked Esther more than he did any of the other young women. None of them pleased him as much as she did, and right away he fell in love with her and crowned her queen in place of Vashti.


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In honor of Esther he gave a big dinner for his leaders and officials. Then he declared a holiday everywhere in his kingdom and gave expensive gifts.


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When the young women were brought together again, Esther's cousin Mordecai had become a palace official.


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He had told Esther never to tell anyone that she was a Jew, and she obeyed him, just as she had always done.


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Bigthana and Teresh were the two men who guarded King Xerxes' rooms, but they got angry with the king and decided to kill him.


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King Xerxes learned that Mordecai's report was true, and he had the two men hanged. Then the king had all of this written down in his record book as he watched.


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Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha to the highest position in his kingdom. Haman was a descendant of Agag,


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and the king had given orders for his officials at the royal gate to honor Haman by kneeling down to him. All of them obeyed except Mordecai.


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he said, "Because I am a Jew." They spoke to him for several days about kneeling down, but he still refused to obey. Finally, they reported this to Haman, to find out if he would let Mordecai get away with it.


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And when he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he knew that killing only Mordecai was not enough. Every Jew in the whole kingdom had to be killed.


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It was now the twelfth year of the rule of King Xerxes. During Nisan, the first month of the year, Haman said, "Find out the best time for me to do this." The time chosen was Adar, the twelfth month.


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Then Haman went to the king and said: Your Majesty, there are some people who live all over your kingdom and won't have a thing to do with anyone else. They have customs that are different from everyone else's, and they refuse to obey your laws. We would be better off to get rid of them!


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Why not give orders for all of them to be killed? I can promise that you will get tons of silver for your treasury.


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On the thirteenth day of Nisan, Haman called in the king's secretaries and ordered them to write letters in every language used in the kingdom. The letters were written in the name of the king and sealed by using the king's own ring. At once they were sent to the king's highest officials, the governors of each province, and the leaders of the different nations in the kingdom of Xerxes.


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The letters were taken by messengers to every part of the kingdom, and this is what was said in the letters: On the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month, all Jewish men, women, and children are to be killed. And their property is to be taken.


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King Xerxes gave orders for these letters to be posted where they could be seen by everyone all over the kingdom. The king's command was obeyed, and one of the letters was read aloud to the people in the walled city of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink together, but no one in the city could figure out what was going on.


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When Mordecai heard about the letter, he tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he covered his head with ashes and went through the city, crying and weeping.


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But he could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace.


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In every province where the king's orders were read, the Jews cried and mourned, and they went without eating. Many of them even put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.


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When Esther's servant girls and her other servants told her what Mordecai was doing, she became very upset and sent Mordecai some clothes to wear in place of the sackcloth. But he refused to take them.


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Esther had a servant named Hathach, who had been given to her by the king. So she called him in and said, "Find out what's wrong with Mordecai and why he's acting this way."


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and Mordecai told him everything that had happened. He also told him how much money Haman had promised to add to the king's treasury, if all the Jews were killed.


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Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the orders for the murder of the Jews and told him that these had been read in Susa. He said, "Show this to Esther and explain what it means. Ask her to go to the king and beg him to have pity on her people, the Jews!"


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there is a law about going in to see the king, and all his officials and his people know about this law. Anyone who goes in to see the king without being invited by him will be put to death. The only way that anyone can be saved is for the king to hold out the gold scepter to that person. And it's been thirty days since he has asked for me."


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he sent back this reply, "Don't think that you will escape being killed with the rest of the Jews, just because you live in the king's palace.


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If you don't speak up now, we will somehow get help, but you and your family will be killed. It could be that you were made queen for a time like this!"


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"Bring together all the Jews in Susa and tell them to go without eating for my sake! Don't eat or drink for three days and nights. My servant girls and I will do the same. Then I will go in to see the king, even if it means I must die."


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Three days later, Esther dressed in her royal robes and went to the inner court of the palace in front of the throne. The king was sitting there, facing the open doorway.


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He was happy to see Esther, and he held out the gold scepter to her. When Esther came up and touched the tip of the scepter,


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the king said, "Esther, what brings you here? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."


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Esther answered, "Your Majesty, please come with Haman to a dinner I will prepare for you later today."


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The king said to his servants, "Hurry and get Haman, so we can accept Esther's invitation." The king and Haman went to Esther's dinner,


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and while they were drinking wine, the king asked her, "What can I do for you? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."


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Esther replied, "Your Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to do what I want, please come again tomorrow with Haman to the dinner I will prepare for you. At that time I will answer Your Majesty's question."


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Haman was feeling great as he left. But when he saw Mordecai at the palace gate, he noticed that Mordecai did not stand up or show him any respect. This made Haman really angry,


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and started bragging about his great wealth and all his sons. He told them the many ways that the king had honored him and how all the other officials and leaders had to respect him.


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Haman added, "That's not all! Besides the king himself, I'm the only person Queen Esther invited for dinner. She has also invited the king and me to dinner tomorrow.


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Haman's wife and friends said to him, "Have a tower built about seventy-five feet high, and tomorrow morning ask the king to hang Mordecai there. Then later, you can have dinner with the king and enjoy yourself." This seemed like a good idea to Haman, and he had the tower built.


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That night the king could not sleep, and he had a servant read him the records of what had happened since he had been king.


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the king asked, "What has been done to reward Mordecai for this?" "Nothing, Your Majesty!" the king's servants replied.


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About this time, Haman came in to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the tower he had built. The king saw him and asked, "Who is that man waiting in front of the throne room?"


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When Haman entered the room, the king asked him, "What should I do for a man I want to honor?" Haman was sure that he was the one the king wanted to honor.


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Have one of your highest officials place your robe on this man and lead him through the streets on your horse, while someone shouts, 'This is how the king honors a man!' "


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The king replied, "Hurry and do just what you have said! Don't forget a thing. Get the robe and the horse for Mordecai the Jew, who is on duty at the palace gate!"


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Haman got the king's robe and put it on Mordecai. He led him through the city on the horse and shouted as he went, "This is how the king honors a man!"


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Afterwards, Mordecai returned to his duties at the palace gate, and Haman hurried home, hiding his face in shame.


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Haman told his wife and friends what had happened. Then his wife and his advisors said, "If Mordecai is a Jew, this is just the beginning of your troubles! You will end up a ruined man."


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They were still talking, when the king's servants came and quickly took Haman to the dinner that Esther had prepared.


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and drinking wine during the second dinner, when the king again said, "Esther, what can I do for you? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom!"


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Esther answered, "Your Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to help, you can save me and my people. That's what I really want,


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because a reward has been promised to anyone who kills my people. Your Majesty, if we were merely going to be sold as slaves, I would not have bothered you."


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Esther replied, "That evil Haman is the one out to get us!" Haman was terrified, as he looked at the king and the queen.


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The king was so angry that he got up, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. Haman realized that the king had already decided what to do with him, and he stayed and begged Esther to save his life.


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Just as the king came back into the room, Haman got down on his knees beside Esther, who was lying on the couch. The king shouted, "Now you're even trying to rape my queen here in my own palace!" As soon as the king said this, his servants covered Haman's head.


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Then Harbona, one of the king's personal servants, said, "Your Majesty, Haman built a tower seventy-five feet high beside his house, so he could hang Mordecai on it. And Mordecai is the very one who spoke up and saved your life." "Hang Haman from his own tower!" the king commanded.


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Before the end of the day, King Xerxes gave Esther everything that had belonged to Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. So the king made Mordecai one of his highest officials


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and gave him the royal ring that Haman had worn. Then Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.


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Once again Esther went to speak to the king. This time she fell down at his feet, crying and begging, "Please stop Haman's evil plan to have the Jews killed!"


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and she got up and said, "Your Majesty, I know that you will do the right thing and that you really love me. Please stop what Haman has planned. He has already sent letters demanding that the Jews in all your provinces be killed,


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King Xerxes then said to Esther and Mordecai, "I have already ordered Haman to be hanged and his house given to Esther, because of his evil plans to kill the Jews.


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I now give you permission to make a law that will save the lives of your people. You may use my ring to seal the law, so that it can never be changed."


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On the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month, the king's secretaries wrote the law. They obeyed Mordecai and wrote to the Jews, the rulers, the governors, and the officials of all one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written in every language used in the kingdom, including the Jewish language.


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They were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his ring. Then they were taken by messengers who rode the king's finest and fastest horses.


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In these letters the king said: On the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month, the Jews in every city and province will be allowed to get together and defend themselves. They may destroy any army that attacks them, and they may kill all of their enemies, including women and children. They may also take everything that belongs to their enemies. A copy of this law is to be posted in every province and read by everyone.


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Then the king ordered his messengers to take their fastest horses and deliver the law as quickly as possible to every province. When Mordecai left, he was wearing clothes fit for a king. He wore blue and white robes, a large gold crown, and a cape made of fine linen and purple cloth. After the law was announced in Susa, everyone shouted and cheered,


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and the Jews were no longer afraid. In fact, they were very happy and felt that they had won a victory.


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In every province and city where the law was sent, the Jews had parties and celebrated. Many of the people in the provinces accepted the Jewish religion, because they were now afraid of the Jews.


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The first law that the king had made was to be followed on the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. This was the very day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to do away with them. But the Jews turned things around,


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and in the cities of every province they came together to attack their enemies. Everyone was afraid of the Jews, and no one could do anything to oppose them.


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The leaders of the provinces, the rulers, the governors, and the court officials were afraid of Mordecai and took sides with the Jews.


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They killed five hundred people in Susa, but they did not take anything that belonged to the ones they killed. Haman had been one of the worst enemies of the Jews, and ten of his sons were among those who were killed. Their names were Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.


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Then he told Esther, "Five hundred people, including Haman's ten sons, have been killed in Susa alone. If that many were killed here, what must have happened in the provinces? Is there anything else you want done? Just tell me, and it will be done."


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Esther answered, "Your Majesty, please let the Jews in Susa fight to defend themselves tomorrow, just as they did today. And order the bodies of Haman's ten sons to be hanged in public."


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Then on the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of the city got together and killed three hundred more people. But they still did not take anything that belonged to their enemies.


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On the thirteenth day of Adar, the Jews in the provinces had come together to defend themselves. They killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies, but the Jews did not take anything that belonged to the ones they killed. Then on the fourteenth day of the month the Jews celebrated with a feast.


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On the fifteenth day of the month the Jews in Susa held a holiday and celebrated, after killing their enemies on the thirteenth and the fourteenth.


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This is why the Jews in the villages now celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month. It is a joyful holiday that they celebrate by feasting and sending gifts of food to each other.


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Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to the Jews everywhere in the provinces


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the days when we Jews defeated our enemies. Remember this month as a time when our sorrow was turned to joy, and celebration took the place of crying. Celebrate by having parties and by giving to the poor and by sharing gifts of food with each other.


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They followed Mordecai's instructions and set aside these two days every year as a time of celebration.


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Haman was the son of Hammedatha and a descendant of Agag. He hated the Jews so much that he planned to destroy them, but he wanted to find out the best time to do it. So he cast lots.


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Esther went to King Xerxes and asked him to save her people. Then the king gave written orders for Haman and his sons to be punished in the same terrible way that Haman had in mind for the Jews. So they were hanged.


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Mordecai's letter had said that the Jews must celebrate for two days because of what had happened to them. This time of celebration is called Purim, which is the Hebrew word for the lots that were cast.


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Now every year the Jews set aside these two days for having parties and celebrating, just as they were told to do.


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Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, wanted to give full authority to Mordecai's letter about the Festival of Purim, and with his help she wrote a letter about the feast.


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Copies of this letter were sent to Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of King Xerxes. In the letter they said: We pray that all of you will live in peace and safety.


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You and your descendants must always remember to celebrate Purim at the time and in the way that we have said. You must also follow the instructions that we have given you about mourning and going without eating.


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All the great and famous things that King Xerxes did are written in the record books of the kings of Media and Persia. These records also tell about the honors that the king gave to Mordecai.


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Next to the king himself, Mordecai was the highest official in the kingdom. He was a popular leader of the Jews, because he helped them in many ways and would even speak to the king for them.


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Many years ago, a man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was a truly good person, who respected God and refused to do evil.


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He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the richest person in the East.


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Job's sons took turns having feasts in their homes, and they always invited their three sisters to join in the eating and drinking.


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After each feast, Job would send for his children and perform a ceremony, as a way of asking God to forgive them of any wrongs they may have done. He would get up early the next morning and offer a sacrifice for each of them, just in case they had sinned or silently cursed God.


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the LORD asked, "Satan, where have you been?" Satan replied, "I have been going all over the earth."


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Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil."


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"You are like a wall protecting not only him, but his entire family and all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere.


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The LORD replied, "All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don't harm Job." Then Satan left.


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when someone rushed up to Job and said, "While your servants were plowing with your oxen, and your donkeys were nearby eating grass,


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a gang of Sabeans attacked and stole the oxen and donkeys! Your other servants were killed, and I was the only one who escaped to tell you."


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That servant was still speaking, when a second one came running up and saying, "God sent down a fire that killed your sheep and your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


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Before that servant finished speaking, a third one raced up and said, "Three gangs of Chaldeans attacked and stole your camels! All of your other servants were killed, and I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


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That servant was still speaking, when a fourth one dashed up and said, "Your children were having a feast and drinking wine at the home of your oldest son,


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when suddenly a windstorm from the desert blew the house down, crushing all of your children. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


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When Job heard this, he tore his clothes and shaved his head because of his great sorrow. He knelt on the ground, then worshiped God


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and said: "We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The LORD alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the LORD!"


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and the LORD asked, "Satan, where have you been?" Satan replied, "I have been going all over the earth."


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Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil. And he hasn't changed, even though you persuaded me to destroy him for no reason."


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Then Job sat on the ash-heap to show his sorrow. And while he was scraping his sores with a broken piece of pottery,


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Job replied, "Don't talk like a fool! If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well." In all that happened, Job never once said anything against God.


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Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah were three of Job's friends, and they heard about his troubles. So they agreed to visit Job and comfort him.


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When they came near enough to see Job, they could hardly recognize him. And in their great sorrow, they tore their clothes, then sprinkled dust on their heads and cried bitterly.


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For seven days and nights, they sat silently on the ground beside him, because they realized what terrible pain he was in.


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It stopped and stood still. Then a form appeared-- a shapeless form. And from the silence, I heard a voice say,


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Why do you watch us so closely? What's it to you, if I sin? Why am I your target and such a heavy burden?


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and set the stars in place-- the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and the stars in the southern sky.


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Your words have silenced others and made them ashamed; now it is only right for you to be put to shame.


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and let you know that wisdom has many different sides. You would then discover that God has punished you less than you deserve.


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They are higher than the heavens and deeper than the grave. So what can you do when you know so little,


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Those who gained such insights also gained the land, and they were not influenced by foreign teachings.


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Everything was going well, until God grabbed my neck and shook me to pieces. God set me up as the target


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People who are truly good would feel so alarmed, that they would become angry at my worthless friends.


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and what they treasure most will be lost in the dark. God will send flames to destroy them in their tents with all their property.


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You say, "God will punish those sinners' children in place of those sinners." But I say, "Let him punish those sinners themselves until they really feel it.


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Then they are forced to work naked in the grain fields because they have no clothes, and they go hungry.


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Others wait for the dark, thinking they won't be seen if they sleep with the wife or husband of someone else.


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Those sinners are filthy foam on the surface of the water. And so, their fields and vineyards will fall under a curse and won't produce.


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But God's mighty strength destroys those in power. Even if they seem successful, they are doomed to fail.


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These things are merely a whisper of God's power at work. How little we would understand if this whisper ever turned into thunder!


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My advice was followed as though I were a king leading my troops, or someone comforting those in sorrow.


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Why doesn't God All-Powerful listen and answer? If God has something against me, let him speak up or put it in writing!


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If I had, I would pray for weeds instead of wheat to grow in my fields. After saying these things, Job was silent.


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and we ask God to accept us. Then we joyfully worship God, and we are rewarded because we are innocent.


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Job also argues that God considers him a liar and that he is suffering severely in spite of his innocence.


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Even powerful rulers die in the darkness of night when they least expect it, just like the rest of us.


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Do you make the rules, or does God? You have to decide-- I can't do it for you; now make up your mind.


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And at this very moment, God deeply desires to lead you from trouble and to spread your table with your favorite food.


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And so we humans fear God, because he shows no respect for those who are proud and think they know so much.


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She treats her eggs as though they were not her own, unconcerned that her work might be for nothing.


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You asked why I talk so much when I know so little. I have talked about things that are far beyond my understanding.


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The LORD said to Eliphaz: What my servant Job has said about me is true, but I am angry at you and your two friends for not telling the truth.


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So I want you to go over to Job and offer seven bulls and seven goats on an altar as a sacrifice to please me. After this, Job will pray, and I will agree not to punish you for your foolishness.


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Then Job gave a feast for his brothers and sisters and for his old friends. They expressed their sorrow for the suffering the LORD had brought on him, and they each gave Job some silver and a gold ring.


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The LORD now blessed Job more than ever; he gave him fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand pair of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.


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They were the most beautiful women in that part of the world, and Job gave them shares of his property, along with their brothers.


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Job lived for another one hundred forty years--long enough to see his great-grandchildren have children of their own--


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God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God.


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They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.


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Sinners won't have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won't have a place with the people of God.


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I will tell the promise that the LORD made to me: "You are my son, because today I have become your father.


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Show respect to his son because if you don't, the LORD might become furious and suddenly destroy you. But he blesses and protects everyone who runs to him.


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(Written by David when he was running from his son Absalom.) I have a lot of enemies, LORD. Many fight against


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use stringed instruments.) You are my God and protector. Please answer my prayer. I was in terrible distress, but you set me free. Now have pity and listen as I pray.


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How long will you people refuse to respect me? You love foolish things, and you run after what is worthless.


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But each of you had better tremble and turn from your sins. Silently search your heart as you lie in bed.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use flutes.) Listen, LORD, as I pray! Pay attention when I groan.


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Because of your great mercy, I come to your house, LORD, and I am filled with wonder as I bow down to worship at your holy temple.


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Nothing they say is true! They just want to destroy. Their words are deceitful like a hidden pit, and their tongues are good only for telling lies.


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Punish them, God, and let their own plans bring their downfall. Get rid of them! They keep committing crimes and turning against you.


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Let all who run to you for protection always sing joyful songs. Provide shelter for those who truly love you and let them rejoice.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use stringed instruments.) Don't punish me, LORD, or even correct me when you are angry!


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(Written by David. He sang this to the LORD because of Cush from the tribe of Benjamin.) You, LORD God, are my protector. Rescue me and keep me safe from all who chase me.


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If I have done any of this, then let my enemies chase and capture me. Let them stomp me to death and leave me in the dirt.


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You know every heart and mind, and you always do right. Now make violent people stop, but protect all of us who obey you.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) Our LORD and Ruler, your name is wonderful everywhere on earth! You let your glory be seen in the heavens above.


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With praises from children and from tiny infants, you have built a fortress. It makes your enemies silent, and all who turn against you are left speechless.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "The Death of the Son.") I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart and tell about the wonders you have worked.


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Our enemies are destroyed completely for all time. Their cities are torn down, and they will never be remembered again.


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You showed what you are like, and you made certain that justice is done, but evil people are trapped by their own evil deeds.


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They are always successful, though they can't understand your teachings, and they keep sneering at their enemies.


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They are hungry lions hiding in the bushes, hoping to catch some helpless passerby. They trap the poor in nets and drag them away.


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But you see the trouble and the distress, and you will do something. The poor can count on you, and so can orphans.


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You listen to the longings of those who suffer. You offer them hope, and you pay attention to their cries for help.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) The LORD is my fortress! Don't say to me, "Escape like a bird to the mountains!"


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You tell me, "Watch out! Those evil people have put their arrows on their bows, and they are standing in the shadows, aiming at good people.


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The LORD is sitting in his sacred temple on his throne in heaven. He knows everything we do because he sees us all.


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He will send fiery coals and flaming sulfur down on the wicked, and they will drink nothing but a scorching wind.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) Please help me, LORD! All who were faithful and all who were loyal have disappeared.


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But you, LORD, tell them, "I will do something! The poor are mistreated and helpless people moan. I'll rescue all who suffer."


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Our LORD, you are true to your promises, and your word is like silver heated seven times in a fiery furnace.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) How much longer, LORD, will you forget about me? Will it be forever? How long will you hide?


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Please listen, LORD God, and answer my prayers. Make my eyes sparkle again, or else I will fall into the sleep of death.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) Only a fool would say, "There is no God!" People like that are worthless; they are heartless and cruel and never do right.


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I long for someone from Zion to come and save Israel! Our LORD, when you bless your people again, Jacob's family will be glad, and Israel will celebrate.


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They hate worthless people, but show respect for all who worship the LORD. And they keep their promises, no matter what the cost.


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They lend their money without charging interest, and they don't take bribes to hurt the innocent. Those who do these things will always stand firm.


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but worshipers of other gods will have much sorrow. I refuse to offer sacrifices of blood to those gods or worship in their name.


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You have shown me the path to life, and you make me glad by being near to me. Sitting at your right side, I will always be joyful.


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(A prayer by David.) I am innocent, LORD! Won't you listen as I pray and beg for help? I am honest! Please hear my prayer.


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You know my heart, and even during the night you have tested me and found me innocent. I have made up my mind never to tell a lie.


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Show your wonderful love. Your mighty arm protects those who run to you for safety from their enemies.


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Use your powerful arm and rescue me from the hands of mere humans whose world won't last. You provide food for those you love. Their children have plenty, and their grandchildren will have more than enough.


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(For the music leader. A psalm by David, the LORD's servant. David sang this to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from his enemies, but especially from Saul.) I love you, LORD God, and you make me strong.


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You are my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my shield, my powerful weapon, and my place of shelter.


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LORD Most High, your voice thundered from the heavens, as hailstones and fiery coals poured down like rain.


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You alone are my shield. Your right hand supports me, and by coming to help me, you have made me famous.


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You rescued me from stubborn people, and you made me the leader of foreign nations, who are now my slaves.


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You are the living LORD! I will praise you. You are a mighty rock. I will honor you for keeping me safe.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done.


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Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun.


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The Law of the LORD is perfect; it gives us new life. His teachings last forever, and they give wisdom to ordinary people.


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The LORD's instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine brightly, and they give us light.


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Worshiping the LORD is sacred; he will always be worshiped. All of his decisions are correct and fair.


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Don't let me do wrong on purpose, Lord, or let sin have control over my life. Then I will be innocent, and not guilty of some terrible fault.


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Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, LORD, because you are my mighty rock and my protector.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) I pray that the LORD will listen when you are in trouble, and that the God of Jacob will keep you safe.


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Then you will win victories, and we will celebrate, while raising our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD answer all of your prayers!


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I am certain, LORD, that you will help your chosen king. You will answer my prayers from your holy place in heaven, and you will save me with your mighty arm.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) Our LORD, your mighty power makes the king glad, and he celebrates victories that you have given him.


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You have given him blessings that will last forever, and you have made him glad by being so near to him.


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They will be destroyed by fire once you are here, and because of your anger, flames will swallow them.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "A Deer at Dawn." ) My God, my God, why have you deserted me? Why are you so far away? Won't you listen to my groans and come to my rescue?


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When they cried out for help, you saved them, and you did not let them down when they depended on you.


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You, LORD, brought me safely through birth, and you protected me when I was a baby at my mother's breast.


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From the day I was born, I have been in your care, and from the time of my birth, you have been my God.


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I have no more strength than a few drops of water. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax.


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My strength has dried up like a broken clay pot, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You, God, have left me to die in the dirt.


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All who worship the LORD, now praise him! You belong to Jacob's family and to the people of Israel, so fear and honor the LORD!


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The LORD doesn't hate or despise the helpless in all of their troubles. When I cried out, he listened and did not turn away.


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When your people meet, you will fill my heart with your praises, LORD, and everyone will see me keep my promises to you.


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Everyone on this earth will remember you, LORD. People all over the world will turn and worship you,


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All who are rich and have more than enough will bow down to you, Lord. Even those who are dying and almost in the grave will come and bow down.


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I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won't be afraid. You are with me, and your shepherd's rod makes me feel safe.


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You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows.


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Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD.


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(A psalm by David.) The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD. The world and its people belong to him.


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(By David.) Show that I am right, LORD! I stay true to myself, and I have trusted you without doubting.


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Don't sweep me away, as you do sinners. Don't punish me with death as you do those people who are brutal


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(By David.) You, LORD, are the light that keeps me safe. I am not afraid of anyone. You protect me, and I have no fears.


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Brutal people may attack and try to kill me, but they will stumble. Fierce enemies may attack, but they will fall.


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I ask only one thing, LORD: Let me live in your house every day of my life to see how wonderful you are and to pray in your temple.


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In times of trouble, you will protect me. You will hide me in your tent and keep me safe on top of a mighty rock.


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You will let me defeat all of my enemies. Then I will celebrate, as I enter your tent with animal sacrifices and songs of praise.


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so don't hide from me. I am your servant, and you have helped me. Don't turn from me in anger. You alone keep me safe. Don't reject or desert me.


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(By David.) Only you, LORD, are a mighty rock! Don't refuse to help me when I pray. If you don't answer me, I will soon be dead.


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They don't pay any attention to your wonderful deeds. Now you will destroy them and leave them in ruin.


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You are my strong shield, and I trust you completely. You have helped me, and I will celebrate and thank you in song.


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The voice of the LORD echoes over the oceans. The glorious LORD God thunders above the roar of the raging sea,


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The voice of the LORD makes deer give birth before their time. Forests are stripped of leaves, and the temple is filled with shouts of praise.


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(A psalm by David for the dedication of the temple.) I will praise you, LORD! You saved me from the grave and kept my enemies from celebrating my death.


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Your anger lasts a little while, but your kindness lasts for a lifetime. At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.


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You, LORD, were my friend, and you made me strong as a mighty mountain. But when you hid your face, I was crushed.


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"What good will it do you if I am in the grave? Once I have turned to dust, how can I praise you or tell how loyal you are?


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) I come to you, LORD, for protection. Don't let me be ashamed. Do as you have promised and rescue me.


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You, LORD God, are my mighty rock and my fortress. Lead me and guide me, so that your name will be honored.


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I have known only sorrow all my life long, and I suffer year after year. I am weak from sin, and my bones are limp.


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My enemies insult me. Neighbors are even worse, and I disgust my friends. People meet me on the street, and they turn and run.


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I pray only to you. Don't disappoint me. Disappoint my cruel enemies until they lie silent in their graves.


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You are wonderful, and while everyone watches, you store up blessings for all who honor and trust you.


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I was terrified and thought, "They've chased me far away from you!" But you answered my prayer when I shouted for help.


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All who belong to the LORD, show how you love him. The LORD protects the faithful, but he severely punishes everyone who is proud.


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You bless them by saying, "You told me your sins, without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you."


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So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, "I'll tell the LORD each one of my sins." Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.


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We worship you, Lord, and we should always pray whenever we find out that we have sinned. Then we won't be swept away by a raging flood.


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You are my hiding place! You protect me from trouble, and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me.


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You said to me, "I will point out the road that you should follow. I will be your teacher and watch over you.


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Mighty armies alone cannot win wars for a king; great strength by itself cannot keep a soldier safe.


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(Written by David when he pretended to be crazy in front of Abimelech, so that Abimelech would send him away, and David could leave.) I will always praise the LORD.


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Young lions may go hungry or even starve, but if you trust the LORD, you will never miss out on anything good.


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Wicked people are killed by their own evil deeds, and if you hate God's people you will be punished.


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Let all who want to kill me be disappointed and disgraced. Chase away and confuse all who plan to harm me.


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Surprise them with disaster! Trap them in their own nets and let them fall and rot in the pits they have dug.


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Every bone in my body will shout: "No one is like the LORD!" You protect the helpless from those in power; you save the poor and needy from those who hurt them.


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But all you do is watch! When will you do something? Save me from the attack of those vicious lions.


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Don't let my brutal enemies be glad because of me. They hate me for no reason. Don't let them wink behind my back.


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Disappoint and confuse all who are glad to see me in trouble, but disgrace and embarrass my proud enemies who say to me, "You are nothing!"


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Let all who want me to win be happy and joyful. From now on let them say, "The LORD is wonderful! God is glad when all goes well for his servant."


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(For the music leader by David, the LORD's servant.) Sinners don't respect God; sin is all they think about.


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Those people stay awake, thinking up mischief, and they follow the wrong road, refusing to turn from sin.


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Your decisions are always fair. They are firm like mountains, deep like the sea, and all people and animals are under your care.


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Our LORD, keep showing love to everyone who knows you, and use your power to save all whose thoughts please you.


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Be patient and trust the LORD. Don't let it bother you when all goes well for those who do sinful things.


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As long as I can remember, good people have never been left helpless, and their children have never gone begging for food.


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The LORD loves justice, and he won't ever desert his faithful people. He always protects them, but destroys the children of the wicked.


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Think of the bright future waiting for all the families of honest and innocent and peace-loving people.


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(A psalm by David to be used when an offering is made.) When you are angry, LORD, please don't punish me or even correct me.


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All who want me dead set traps to catch me, and those who want to harm and destroy me plan and plot all day.


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(A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.) I told myself, "I'll be careful not to sin by what I say, and I'll muzzle my mouth when evil people are near."


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and it disappears like a shadow. Our struggles are senseless; we store up more and more, without ever knowing who will get it all.


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You punish us severely because of our sins. Like a moth, you destroy what we treasure most. We are as frail as a breath.


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"Listen, LORD, to my prayer! My eyes are flooded with tears, as I pray to you. I am merely a stranger visiting in your home as my ancestors did.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) I patiently waited, LORD, for you to hear my prayer. You listened


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and you gave me a new song, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and trust you, the LORD God.


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You, LORD God, have done many wonderful things, and you have planned marvelous things for us. No one is like you! I would never be able to tell all you have done.


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Sacrifices and offerings are not what please you; gifts and payment for sin are not what you demand. But you made me willing to listen and obey.


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When all your people met, I did not keep silent. I said, "Our LORD is kind. He is faithful and caring, and he saves us."


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I have more troubles than I can count. My sins are all around me, and I can't find my way. My sins outnumber the hairs on my head, and I feel weak.


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Our LORD, let your worshipers rejoice and be glad. They love you for saving them, so let them always say, "The LORD is wonderful!"


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I am poor and needy, but, LORD God, you care about me, and you come to my rescue. Please hurry and help.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) You, LORD God, bless everyone who cares for the poor, and you rescue those people in times of trouble.


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You protect them and keep them alive. You make them happy here in this land, and you don't hand them over to their enemies.


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When visitors come, all they ever bring are worthless words, and when they leave, they spread gossip.


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(A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) As a deer gets thirsty for streams of water, I truly am thirsty for you, my God.


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Sorrow floods my heart, when I remember leading the worshipers to your house. I can still hear them shout their joyful praises.


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Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me,


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and you are my God. I am deeply discouraged as I think about you from where the Jordan begins at Mount Hermon and from Mount Mizar.


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Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me, and you are my God.


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Show that I am right, God! Defend me against everyone who doesn't know you; rescue me from each of those deceitful liars.


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I run to you for protection. Why have you turned me away? Why must enemies mistreat me and make me sad?


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Then I will worship at your altar because you make me joyful. You are my God, and I will praise you. Yes, I will praise you as I play my harp.


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(A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) Our God, our ancestors told us what wonders you worked and we listened carefully.


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You chased off the nations by causing them trouble with your powerful arm. Then you let our ancestors take over their land.


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Their strength and weapons were not what won the land and gave them victory! You loved them and fought with your powerful arm and your shining glory.


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(A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader. To the tune "Lilies." A love song.) My thoughts are filled with beautiful words for the king, and I will use my voice as a writer would use pen and ink.


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and ride out in splendor! Win victories for truth and mercy and justice. Do fearsome things with your powerful arm.


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You love justice and hate evil. And so, your God chose you and made you happier than any of your friends.


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The sweet aroma of the spices myrrh, aloes, and cassia, covers your royal robes. You enjoy the music of harps in palaces decorated with ivory.


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Daughters of kings are here, and your bride stands at your right side, wearing a wedding gown trimmed with pure gold.


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with precious treasures. Your bride, my king, has inward beauty, and her wedding gown is woven with threads of gold.


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Your sons and your grandsons will also be kings as your ancestors were. You will make them the rulers everywhere on earth.


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(A special song for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) God is our mighty fortress, always ready to help in times of trouble.


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God brings wars to an end all over the world. He breaks the arrows, shatters the spears, and burns the shields.


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(A psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) All of you nations, clap your hands and shout joyful praises to God.


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Their leaders come together and are now the people of Abraham's God. All rulers on earth surrender their weapons, and God is greatly praised!


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(A song and a psalm for the people of Korah.) The LORD God is wonderful! He deserves all praise in the city where he lives. His holy mountain,


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beautiful and majestic, brings joy to all on earth. Mount Zion, truly sacred, is home for the Great King.


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We had heard about it, and now we have seen it in the city of our God, the LORD All-Powerful. This is the city that God will let stand forever.


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(A psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) Everyone on this earth, now listen to what I say!


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They are like sheep with death as their shepherd, leading them to the grave. In the morning God's people will walk all over them, as their bodies lie rotting in their home, the grave.


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(A psalm by Asaph.) From east to west, the powerful LORD God has been calling together everyone on earth.


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But to the wicked I say: "You don't have the right to mention my laws or claim to keep our agreement!


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When you did all of this, I didn't say a word, and you thought, "God is just like us!" But now I will accuse you.


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The sacrifice that honors me is a thankful heart. Obey me, and I, your God, will show my power to save.


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(For the music leader. A psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had been with Bathsheba.) You are kind, God! Please have pity on me. You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins.


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You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.


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Keep me from any deadly sin. Only you can save me! Then I will shout and sing about your power to save.


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The way to please you is to feel sorrow deep in our hearts. This is the kind of sacrifice you won't refuse.


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Then you will be pleased with the proper sacrifices, and we will offer bulls on your altar once again.


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(A special psalm by David for the music leader. He wrote this when Doeg from Edom went to Saul and said, "David has gone to Ahimelech's house.") You people may be strong and brag about your sins, but God can be trusted day after day.


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God will destroy you forever! He will grab you and drag you from your homes. You will be uprooted and left to die.


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(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "Mahalath.") Only a fool would say, "There is no God!" People like that are worthless! They are heartless and cruel and never do right.


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But you will be terrified worse than ever before. God will scatter the bones of his enemies, and you will be ashamed when God rejects you.


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I long for someone from Zion to come and save Israel! Our God, when you bless your people again, Jacob's family will be glad, and Israel will celebrate.


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(For the music leader. Use with stringed instruments. A special psalm that David wrote when the people of Ziph went to Saul and said, "David is hiding here with us.") Save me, God, by your power and prove that I am right.


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I will bring a gift and offer a sacrifice to you, LORD. I will praise your name because you are good.


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(A special psalm by David for the music leader. Use with stringed instruments.) Listen, God, to my prayer! Don't reject my request.


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My enemies are not the ones who sneer and make fun. I could put up with that or even hide from them.


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All who hate me are controlled by the power of evil. Sentence them to death and send them down alive to the world of the dead.


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You have always ruled, and you will hear me. You will defeat my enemies because they won't turn and worship you.


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His words were smoother than butter, and softer than olive oil. But hatred filled his heart, and he was ready to attack with a sword.


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But what about those people who are cruel and brutal? You will throw them down into the deepest pit long before their time. I trust you, LORD!


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(For the music leader. To the tune "A Silent Dove in the Distance." A special psalm by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.) Have pity, God Most High! My enemies chase me all day.


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You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in your bottle and counted each of them.


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You protected me from death and kept me from stumbling, so that I would please you and follow the light that leads to life.


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(For the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy." A special psalm by David when he was in the cave while running from Saul.) God Most High, have pity on me! Have mercy. I run to you for safety. In the shadow of your wings, I seek protection till danger dies down.


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You will send help from heaven and save me, but you will bring trouble on my attackers. You are faithful, and you can be trusted.


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I live among lions, who gobble down people! They have spears and arrows instead of teeth, and they have sharp swords instead of tongues.


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Enemies set traps for my feet and struck me down. They dug a pit in my path, but fell in it themselves.


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(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy.") Do you mighty people talk only to oppose justice? Don't you ever judge fairly?


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Good people will be glad when they see the wicked getting what they deserve, and they will wash their feet in their enemies' blood.


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(For the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy." A special psalm by David when Saul had David's house watched so that he could kill him.) Save me, God! Protect me from enemy attacks!


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Merciless enemies, LORD, are hiding and plotting, hoping to kill me. I have not hurt them in any way at all.


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LORD God All-Powerful, you are the God of Israel. Punish the other nations and don't pity those terrible and rebellious people.


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Don't kill them, or everyone may forget! Just use your mighty power to make them tremble and fall. You are a shield for your people.


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Get angry and destroy them. Leave them in ruin. Then all the nations will know that you rule in Israel.


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But I will sing about your strength, my God, and I will celebrate because of your love. You are my fortress, my place of protection in times of trouble.


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(For the music leader. To the tune "Lily of the Promise." A special psalm by David for teaching. He wrote it during his wars with the Arameans of northern Syria, when Joab came back and killed twelve thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.) You, God, are angry with us! We are rejected and crushed. Make us strong again!


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Answer our prayers! Use your powerful arm and give us victory. Then the people you love will be safe.


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Our God, you solemnly promised, "I would gladly divide up the city of Shechem and give away Succoth Valley piece by piece.


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The lands of Gilead and Manasseh are mine. Ephraim is my war helmet, and Judah is the symbol of my royal power.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use with stringed instruments.) Please listen, God, and answer my prayer!


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I feel hopeless, and I cry out to you from a faraway land. Lead me to the mighty rock high above me.


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You want to bring me down from my place of honor. You love to tell lies, and when your words are kind, hatred hides in your heart.


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We humans are only a breath; none of us are truly great. All of us together weigh less than a puff of air.


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(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah.) You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert.


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Because of you, our God, the king will celebrate with your faithful followers, but liars will be silent.


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) Listen to my concerns, God, and protect me from my terrible enemies.


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(A psalm by David and a song for the music leader.) Our God, you deserve praise in Zion, where we keep our promises to you.


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You bless your chosen ones, and you invite them to live near you in your temple. We will enjoy your house, the sacred temple.


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Our God, you save us, and your fearsome deeds answer our prayers for justice! You give hope to people everywhere on earth, even those across the sea.


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People far away marvel at your fearsome deeds, and all who live under the sun celebrate and sing because of you.


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You take care of the earth and send rain to help the soil grow all kinds of crops. Your rivers never run dry, and you prepare the earth to produce much grain.


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You water all of its fields and level the lumpy ground. You send showers of rain to soften the soil and help the plants sprout.


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His mighty power rules forever, and nothing the nations do can be hidden from him. So don't turn against God.


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You sent war chariots to crush our skulls. We traveled through fire and through floods, but you brought us to a land of plenty.


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(A psalm and a song for the music leader. Use with stringed instruments.) Our God, be kind and bless us! Be pleased and smile.


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(A psalm and a song by David for the music leader.) Do something, God! Scatter your hateful enemies. Make them turn and run.


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Our God, you are the one who rides on the clouds, and we praise you. Your name is the LORD, and we celebrate as we worship you.


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You find families for those who are lonely. You set prisoners free and let them prosper, but all who rebel will live in a scorching desert.


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God of Israel, the earth trembled, and rain poured down. You alone are the God who rules from Mount Sinai.


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And for those who stayed back to guard the sheep, there are metal doves with silver-coated wings and shiny gold feathers."


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When you climbed the high mountain, you took prisoners with you and were given gifts. Your enemies didn't want you to live there, but they gave you gifts.


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The small tribe of Benjamin leads the way, followed by the leaders from Judah. Then come the leaders from Zebulun and Naphtali.


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Punish that animal that lives in the swamp! Punish that nation whose leaders and people are like wild bulls. Make them come crawling with gifts of silver. Scatter those nations that enjoy making war.


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I am sinking deep in the mud, and my feet are slipping. I am about to be swept under by a mighty flood.


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There are more people who hate me for no reason than there are hairs on my head. Many terrible enemies want to destroy me, God. Am I supposed to give back something I didn't steal?


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My love for your house burns in me like a fire, and when others insulted you, they insulted me as well.


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God will rescue Jerusalem, and he will rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there on their own land,


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and when the time comes, their children will inherit the land. Then everyone who loves God will also settle there.


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(By David for the music leader. To be used when an offering is made.) Save me, LORD God! Hurry and help.


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Let your worshipers celebrate and be glad because of you. They love your saving power, so let them always say, "God is wonderful!"


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I am poor and needy, but you, the LORD God, care about me. You are the one who saves me. Please hurry and help!


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Be my mighty rock, the place where I can always run for protection. Save me by your command! You are my mighty rock and my fortress.


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I have relied on you from the day I was born. You brought me safely through birth, and I always praise you.


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All day long I will tell the wonderful things you do to save your people. But you have done much more than I could possibly know.


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Don't leave me when I am old and my hair turns gray. Let me tell future generations about your mighty power.


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I will praise you, God, the Holy One of Israel. You are faithful. I will play the harp and sing your praises.


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All day long I will announce your power to save. I will tell how you disgraced and disappointed those who wanted to hurt me.


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Force the rulers of Tarshish and of the islands to pay taxes to him. Make the kings of Sheba and of Seba bring gifts.


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Do this because the king rescues the homeless when they cry out, and he helps everyone who is poor and in need.


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Let cities overflow with food and hills be covered with grain, just like Mount Lebanon. Let the people in the cities prosper like wild flowers.


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May the glory of the king shine brightly forever like the sun in the sky. Let him make nations prosper and learn to praise him.


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We will always praise your glorious name. Let your glory be seen everywhere on earth. Amen and amen.


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Powerful LORD God, all who stay far from you will be lost, and you will destroy those who are unfaithful.


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It is good for me to be near you. I choose you as my protector, and I will tell about your wonderful deeds.


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(A special psalm by Asaph.) Our God, why have you completely rejected us? Why are you so angry with the ones you care for?


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Remember the people you rescued long ago, the tribe you chose to be your very own. Think of Mount Zion, your home;


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They said to themselves, "We'll crush them!" Then they burned every one of your meeting places all over the country.


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Our God and King, you have ruled since ancient times; you have won victories everywhere on this earth.


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You treat us like pet doves, but they mistreat us. Don't keep forgetting us and letting us be fed to those wild animals.


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Remember the agreement you made with us. Violent enemies are hiding in every dark corner of the earth.


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Don't disappoint those in need or make them turn from you, but help the poor and homeless to shout your praises.


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(A psalm and a song by Asaph for the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy.") Our God, we thank you for being so near to us! Everyone celebrates your wonderful deeds.


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You hold in your hand a cup filled with wine, strong and foaming. You will pour out some for every sinful person on this earth, and they will have to drink until it is gone.


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Our Lord, you will destroy the power of evil people, but you will give strength to those who are good.


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(A song and a psalm for the music leader. Use stringed instruments.) You, our God, are famous in Judah and honored in Israel.


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From heaven you announced your decisions as judge! And all who live on this earth were terrified and silent


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Everyone, make your promises to the LORD your God and do what you promise. The LORD is fearsome, and all of his servants should bring him gifts.


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(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.) I pray to you, Lord God, and I beg you to listen.


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In days filled with trouble, I search for you. And at night I tirelessly lift my hands in prayer, refusing comfort.


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Then I said, "God Most High, what hurts me most is that you no longer help us with your mighty arm."


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Your thunder roared like chariot wheels. The world was made bright by lightning, and all the earth trembled.


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and we will tell them to the next generation. We won't keep secret the glorious deeds and the mighty miracles of the LORD.


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God gave his Law to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel. And he told our ancestors to teach their children,


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God made water flow from rocks he split open in the desert, and his people drank freely, as though from a lake.


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It's true God struck the rock and water gushed out like a river, but can he give his people bread and meat?"


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Yet God was kind. He kept forgiving their sins and didn't destroy them. He often became angry, but never lost his temper.


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God remembered that they were made of flesh and were like a wind that blows once and then dies down.


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God was so angry and furious that he went into a rage and caused them great trouble by sending swarms of destroying angels.


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There he built his temple as lofty as the mountains and as solid as the earth that he had made to last forever.


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(A psalm by Asaph.) Our God, foreign nations have taken your land, disgraced your temple, and left Jerusalem in ruins.


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They have fed the bodies of your servants to flesh-eating birds; your loyal people are food for savage animals.


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Don't make us pay for the sins of our ancestors. Have pity and come quickly! We are completely helpless.


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Why should nations ask us, "Where is your God?" Let us and the other nations see you take revenge for your servants who died a violent death.


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Then we, your people, will always thank you. We are like sheep with you as our shepherd, and all generations will hear us praise you.


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(A psalm by Asaph for the music leader. To the tune "Lilies of the Agreement.") Shepherd of Israel, you lead the descendants of Joseph, and you sit on your throne above the winged creatures. Listen to our prayer and let your light shine


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We were like a grapevine you brought out of Egypt. You chased other nations away and planted us here.


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Our Lord, why have you torn down the wall from around the vineyard? You let everyone who walks by pick the grapes.


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(By Asaph for the music leader.) Be happy and shout to God who makes us strong! Shout praises to the God of Jacob.


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The descendants of Joseph were told to obey it, when God led them out from the land of Egypt. In a language unknown to me, I heard someone say:


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When you were in trouble, I rescued you, and from the thunderclouds, I answered your prayers. Later I tested you at Meribah Spring.


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(A psalm by Asaph.) When all of the other gods have come together, the Lord God judges them and says:


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"None of you know or understand a thing. You live in darkness, while the foundations of the earth tremble.


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Our Lord, punish all of them as you punished Midian. Destroy them, as you destroyed Sisera and Jabin at Kishon Creek


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(For the music leader. A psalm for the people of Korah.) LORD God All-Powerful, your temple is so lovely!


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LORD God All-Powerful, my King and my God, sparrows find a home near your altars; swallows build nests there to raise their young.


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When they reach Dry Valley, springs start flowing, and the autumn rain fills it with pools of water.


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One day in your temple is better than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather serve in your house, than live in the homes of the wicked.


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Our LORD and our God, you are like the sun and also like a shield. You treat us with kindness and with honor, never denying any good thing to those who live right.


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(A psalm by the people of Korah for the music leader.) Our LORD, you have blessed your land and made all go well for Jacob's descendants.


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I will listen to you, LORD God, because you promise peace to those who are faithful and no longer foolish.


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You are ready to rescue everyone who worships you, so that you will live with us in all of your glory.


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But you, the Lord God, are kind and merciful. You don't easily get angry, and your love can always be trusted.


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I serve you, LORD, and I am the child of one of your servants. Look on me with kindness. Make me strong and save me.


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Show that you approve of me! Then my hateful enemies will feel like fools, because you have helped and comforted me.


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Egypt, Babylonia, Philistia, Phoenicia, and Ethiopia are some of those nations that know you, and their people all say, "I was born in Zion."


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(A song and a psalm by the people of Korah for the music leader. To the tune "Mahalath Leannoth." A special psalm by Heman the Ezrahite.) You keep me safe, LORD God. So when I pray at night,


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Ever since I was a child, I have been sick and close to death. You have terrified me and made me helpless.


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My friends and neighbors have turned against me because of you, and now darkness is my only companion.


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(A special psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite.) Our LORD, I will sing of your love forever. Everyone yet to be born will hear me praise your faithfulness.


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I will tell them, "God's love can always be trusted, and his faithfulness lasts as long as the heavens."


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Our LORD, let the heavens now praise your miracles, and let all of your angels praise your faithfulness.


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The heavens and the earth belong to you. And so does the world with all its people because you created them


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In a vision, you once said to your faithful followers: "I have helped a mighty hero. I chose him from my people and made him famous.


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You have always been God-- long before the birth of the mountains, even before you created the earth and the world.


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but a thousand years mean nothing to you! They are merely a day gone by or a few hours in the night.


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We can expect seventy years, or maybe eighty, if we are healthy, but even our best years bring trouble and sorrow. Suddenly our time is up, and we disappear.


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No one knows the full power of your furious anger, but it is as great as the fear that we owe to you.


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When morning comes, let your love satisfy all our needs. Then we can celebrate and be glad for what time we have left.


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Then you will say to the LORD, "You are my fortress, my place of safety; you are my God, and I trust you."


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He will spread his wings over you and keep you secure. His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall.


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(A psalm and a song for the Sabbath.) It is wonderful to be grateful and to sing your praises, LORD Most High!


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Our LORD, you are King! Majesty and power are your royal robes. You put the world in place, and it will never be moved.


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The LORD is our God, and we are his people, the sheep he takes care of in his own pasture. Listen to God's voice today!


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Then God got tired of them and said, "You never show good sense, and you don't understand what I want you to do."


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Announce to the nations, "The LORD is King! The world stands firm, never to be shaken, and he will judge its people with fairness."


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Tell the heavens and the earth to be glad and celebrate! Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures


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and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops. Then every tree in the forest will sing joyful songs


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Those who brag about the useless idols they worship are terribly ashamed, and all the false gods bow down to the LORD.


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When the people of Zion and of the towns of Judah hear that God brings justice, they will celebrate.


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Sing a new song to the LORD! He has worked miracles, and with his own powerful arm, he has won the victory.


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Let them worship the LORD! He is coming to judge everyone on the earth, and he will be honest and fair.


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Our LORD, you are King! You rule from your throne above the winged creatures, as people tremble and the earth shakes.


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Moses and Aaron were two of your priests. Samuel was also one of those who prayed in your name, and you, our LORD, answered their prayers.


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Our LORD and our God, you answered their prayers and forgave their sins, but when they did wrong, you punished them.


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You know the LORD is God! He created us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep in his pasture.


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I will find trustworthy people to serve as my advisors, and only an honest person will serve as an official.


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(A prayer for someone who hurts and needs to ask the LORD for help.) I pray to you, LORD! Please listen.


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They will all disappear and wear out like clothes. You change them, as you would a coat, but you last forever.


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How great is God's love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth!


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All of God's creation and all that he rules, come and praise your LORD! With all my heart I praise the LORD!


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and you built your home over the mighty ocean. The clouds are your chariot with the wind as its wings.


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Our LORD, by your wisdom you made so many things; the whole earth is covered with your living creatures.


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Our LORD, we pray that your glory will last forever and that you will be pleased with what you have done.


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Destroy all wicked sinners from the earth once and for all. With all my heart I praise you, LORD! I praise you!


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You belong to the family of Abraham, his servant; you are his chosen ones, the descendants of Jacob.


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Let me prosper with the rest of your chosen ones, as they celebrate with pride because they belong to you.


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When they were in Egypt, they paid no attention to your marvelous deeds or your wonderful love. And they turned against you at the Red Sea.


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and to the gods of Canaan. Then they poured out the blood of these innocent children and made the land filthy.


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but you saved them time after time. They were determined to rebel, and their sins caused their downfall.


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Save us, LORD God! Bring us back from among the nations. Let us celebrate and shout in praise of your holy name.


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LORD God of Israel, you deserve to be praised forever and ever. Let everyone say, "Amen! Shout praises to the LORD!"


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To everyone who is thirsty, he gives something to drink; to everyone who is hungry, he gives good things to eat.


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You were tossed to the sky and to the ocean depths, until things looked so bad that you lost your courage.


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But the LORD will take revenge on those who conquer you, and he will make them wander across desert sands.


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When you are suffering and in need, he will come to your rescue, and your families will grow as fast as a herd of sheep.


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(A song and a psalm by David.) Our God, I am faithful to you with all my heart, and you can trust me. I will sing and play music for you with all that I am.


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Answer my prayers and use your powerful arm to give us victory. Then the people you love will be safe.


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Our God, from your holy place you made this promise: "I will gladly divide up the city of Shechem and give away Succoth Valley piece by piece.


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The lands of Gilead and Manasseh are mine. Ephraim is my war helmet, and Judah is my symbol of royal power.


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"He cursed others. Now place a curse on him! He never wished others well. Wish only trouble for him!


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He cursed others more often than he dressed himself. Let his curses strike him deep, just as water and olive oil soak through to our bones.


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I don't care if they curse me, as long as you bless me. You will make my enemies fail when they attack, and you will make me glad to be your servant.


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(A psalm by David.) The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right side, until I make your enemies into a footstool for you."


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Your glorious power will be seen on the day you begin to rule. You will wear the sacred robes and shine like the morning sun in all of your strength.


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The LORD has made a promise that will never be broken: "You will be a priest forever, just like Melchizedek."


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The LORD has done many wonderful things! Everyone who is pleased with God's marvelous deeds will keep them in mind.


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Respect and obey the LORD! This is the first step to wisdom and good sense. God will always be respected.


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Shout praises to the LORD! The LORD blesses everyone who worships him and gladly obeys his teachings.


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They will be so kind and merciful and good, that they will be a light in the dark for others who do the right thing.


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They will always be remembered and greatly praised, because they were kind and freely gave to the poor.


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When evil people see this, they angrily bite their tongues and disappear. They will never get what they really want.


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We don't deserve praise! The LORD alone deserves all of the praise, because of his love and faithfulness.


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The LORD will not forget to give us his blessing; he will bless all of Israel and the family of Aaron.


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Death attacked from all sides, and I was captured by its painful chains. But when I was really hurting,


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They swarmed around like bees, but by the power of the LORD, I got rid of them and their fiery sting.


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God bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD! We praise you from here in the house of the LORD.


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The LORD is our God, and he has given us light! Start the celebration! March with palm branches all the way to the altar.


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Put down those proud people who hurt me with their lies, because I have chosen to study your teachings.


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I am your servant, but I have wandered away like a lost sheep. Please come after me, because I have not forgotten your teachings.


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(A song by David for worship.) It made me glad to hear them say, "Let's go to the house of the LORD!"


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(A song for worship.) Everyone who trusts the LORD is like Mount Zion that cannot be shaken and will stand forever.


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Just as Jerusalem is protected by mountains on every side, the LORD protects his people by holding them in his arms now and forever.


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When the LORD punishes the wicked, he will punish everyone else who lives a crooked life. Pray for peace in Israel!


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We celebrated with laughter and joyful songs. In foreign nations it was said, "The LORD has worked miracles for his people."


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(A song by Solomon for worship.) Without the help of the LORD it is useless to build a home or to guard a city.


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It is useless to get up early and stay up late in order to earn a living. God takes care of his own, even while they sleep.


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Having a lot of children to take care of you in your old age is like a warrior with a lot of arrows.


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The more you have, the better off you will be, because they will protect you when your enemies attack with arguments.


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Your wife will be as fruitful as a grapevine, and just as an olive tree is rich with olives, your home will be rich with healthy children.


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(A song for worship.) Since the time I was young, enemies have often attacked! Let everyone in Israel say:


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And don't let anyone who passes by say to them, "The LORD bless you! I give you my blessing in the name of the LORD."


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I wait for you more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn. Yes, I wait more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn.


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(A song by David for worship.) I am not conceited, LORD, and I don't waste my time on impossible schemes.


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You made a solemn promise to David, when you said, "I, the LORD, promise that someone in your family will always be king.


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I will give mighty power to the kingdom of David. Each one of my chosen kings will shine like a lamp


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It is as beautiful as olive oil poured on Aaron's head and running down his beard and the collar of his robe.


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It is like the dew from Mount Hermon, falling on Zion's mountains, where the LORD has promised to bless his people with life forevermore.


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(A song for worship.) Everyone who serves the LORD, come and offer praises. Everyone who has gathered in his temple tonight,


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The LORD makes the clouds rise from far across the earth, and he makes lightning to go with the rain. Then from his secret place he sends out the wind.


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including King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. He conquered every kingdom in the land of Canaan


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Our enemies had brought us here as their prisoners, and now they wanted us to sing and entertain them. They insulted us and shouted, "Sing about Zion!"


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Our LORD, punish the Edomites! Because the day Jerusalem fell, they shouted, "Completely destroy the city! Tear down every building!"


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Babylon, you are doomed! I pray the Lord's blessings on anyone who punishes you for what you did to us.


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I worship at your holy temple and praise you for your love and your faithfulness. You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than ever before.


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Though you are above us all, you care for humble people, and you keep a close watch on everyone who is proud.


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I am surrounded by trouble, but you protect me against my angry enemies. With your own powerful arm you keep me safe.


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You, LORD, will always treat me with kindness. Your love never fails. You have made us what we are. Don't give up on us now!


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(A psalm by David for the music leader.) You have looked deep into my heart, LORD, and you know all about me.


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If I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there.


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and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.


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but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do.


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I try to count your thoughts, but they outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. And when I awake, I will find you nearby.


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Don't let me want to do evil or waste my time doing wrong with wicked people. Don't let me even taste the good things they offer.


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Let your faithful people correct and punish me. My prayers condemn the deeds of those who do wrong, so don't let me be friends with any of them.


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(A special psalm and a prayer by David when he was in the cave.) I pray to you, LORD. I beg for mercy.


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Even if you look, you won't see anyone who cares enough to walk beside me. There is no place to hide, and no one who really cares.


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I pray to you, LORD! You are my place of safety, and you are my choice in the land of the living. Please answer my prayer. I am completely helpless.


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Rescue me from this prison, so I can praise your name. And when your people notice your wonderful kindness to me, they will rush to my side.


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My enemies are chasing me, crushing me in the ground. I am in total darkness, like someone long dead.


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Please hurry, LORD, and answer my prayer. I feel hopeless. Don't turn away and leave me here to die.


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Each morning let me learn more about your love because I trust you. I come to you in prayer, asking for your guidance.


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You are my God. Show me what you want me to do, and let your gentle Spirit lead me in the right path.


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Be true to your name, LORD, and keep my life safe. Use your saving power to protect me from trouble.


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You are my friend, and you are my fortress where I am safe. You are my shield, and you made me the ruler of our people.


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Open the heavens like a curtain and come down, LORD. Touch the mountains and make them send up smoke.


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Let's pray that our young sons will grow like strong plants and that our daughters will be as lovely as columns in the corner of a palace.


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May our barns be filled with all kinds of crops. May our fields be covered with sheep by the thousands,


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and every cow have calves. Don't let our city be captured or any of us be taken away, and don't let cries of sorrow be heard in our streets.


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You are wonderful, LORD, and you deserve all praise, because you are much greater than anyone can understand.


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Your kingdom will never end, and you will rule forever. Our LORD, you keep your word and do everything you say.


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He fills the sky with clouds and sends rain to the earth, so that the hills will be green with grass.


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He covers the ground with snow like a blanket of wool, and he scatters frost like ashes on the ground.


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Sea monsters and the deep sea, fire and hail, snow and frost, and every stormy wind, come praise the LORD!


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All creation, come praise the name of the LORD. Praise his name alone. The glory of God is greater than heaven and earth.


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Like a bull with mighty horns, the LORD protects his faithful nation Israel, because they belong to him. Shout praises to the LORD!


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Punish them as they deserve; this is the privilege of God's faithful people. Shout praises to the LORD!


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From these, an ordinary person can learn to be smart, and young people can gain knowledge and good sense.


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If you are already wise, you will become even wiser. And if you are smart, you will learn to understand


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Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of knowledge. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice.


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"How much longer will you enjoy being stupid fools? Won't you ever stop sneering and laughing at knowledge?


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"Now you will eat the fruit of what you have done, until you are stuffed full with your own schemes.


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God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and protects all of those who live as they should.


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He places a curse on the home of everyone who is evil, but he blesses the home of every good person.


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The lifestyle of good people is like sunlight at dawn that keeps getting brighter until broad daylight.


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The lifestyle of the wicked is like total darkness, and they will never know what makes them stumble.


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She is beautiful and graceful, just like a deer; you should be attracted to her and stay deeply in love.


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and you are now in the power of someone else. Here is what you should do: Go and beg for permission to call off the agreement.


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Their teaching will guide you when you walk, protect you when you sleep, and talk to you when you are awake.


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The Law of the Lord is a lamp, and its teachings shine brightly. Correction and self-control will lead you through life.


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A woman who sells her love can be bought for as little as the price of a meal. But making love to another man's wife will cost you everything.


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Right away he followed her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, or like a fool on the way to be punished


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and killed with arrows. He was no more than a bird rushing into a trap, without knowing it would cost him his life.


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I was there when the LORD put the heavens in place and stretched the sky over the surface of the sea.


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I was there when he set boundaries for the sea to make it obey him, and when he laid foundations to support the earth.


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I was right beside the LORD, helping him plan and build. I made him happy each day, and I was happy at his side.


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Any bragger you correct will only hate you. But if you correct someone who has common sense, you will be loved.


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If you have good sense, instruction will help you to have even better sense. And if you live right, education will help you to know even more.


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Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of wisdom. To have understanding, you must know the Holy God.


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Here are some proverbs of Solomon: Children with good sense make their parents happy, but foolish children make them sad.


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If you have good sense, it will show when you speak. But if you are stupid, you will be beaten with a stick.


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The words of a good person are like pure silver, but the thoughts of an evil person are almost worthless.


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If you respect the LORD, you will live longer; if you keep doing wrong, your life will be cut short.


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If you obey the Lord, you will always know the right thing to say. But no one will trust you if you tell lies.


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If you do the right thing, honesty will be your guide. But if you are crooked, you will be trapped by your own dishonesty.


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Dishonest people use gossip to destroy their neighbors; good people are protected by their own good sense.


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Charge too much for grain, and you will be cursed; sell it at a fair price, and you will be praised.


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Fools who cause trouble in the family won't inherit a thing. They will end up as slaves of someone with good sense.


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Once the wicked are defeated, they are gone forever, but no one who obeys God will ever be thrown down.


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It's better to be ordinary and have only one servant than to think you are somebody and starve to death.


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Children with good sense accept correction from their parents, but stubborn children ignore it completely.


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You will be well rewarded for saying something kind, but all some people think about is how to be cruel and mean.


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No matter how much you want, laziness won't help a bit, but hard work will reward you with more than enough.


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If you reject God's teaching, you will pay the price; if you obey his commands, you will be rewarded.


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If you obey God, you will have something to leave your grandchildren. If you don't obey God, those who live right will get what you leave.


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By living right, you show that you respect the LORD; by being deceitful, you show that you despise him.


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Make fun of wisdom, and you will never find it. But if you have understanding, knowledge comes easily.


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Those who sneer at others don't like to be corrected, and they won't ask help from someone with sense.


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Stupidity brings happiness to senseless fools, but everyone with good sense follows the straight path.


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The LORD never even hears the prayers of the wicked, but he answers the prayers of all who obey him.


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If we truly love God, our sins will be forgiven; if we show him respect, we will keep away from sin.


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A hard-working slave will be placed in charge of a no-good child, and that slave will be given the same inheritance that each child receives.


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By insulting the poor, you insult your Creator. You will be punished if you make fun of someone in trouble.


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You will keep your friends if you forgive them, but you will lose your friends if you keep talking about what they did wrong.


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If you are poor, your own relatives reject you, and your friends are worse. When you really need them, they are not there.


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A foolish son brings disgrace to his father. A nagging wife goes on and on like the drip, drip, drip of the rain.


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Stupid fools learn good sense by seeing others punished; a sensible person learns by being corrected.


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You deserve to lose your coat if you loan it to someone to guarantee payment for the debt of a stranger.


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Rulers are protected by God's mercy and loyalty, but they must be merciful for their kingdoms to last.


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The LORD watches over everyone who shows good sense, but he frustrates the plans of deceitful liars.


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People like that take note of how much you eat. They say, "Take all you want!" But they don't mean it.


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You will be bruised all over, without even remembering how it all happened. And you will lie awake asking, "When will morning come, so I can drink some more?"


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Don't say, "I didn't know it!" God can read your mind. He watches each of us and knows our thoughts. And God will pay us back for what we do.


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Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.


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My children, you must respect the LORD and the king, and you must not make friends with anyone who rebels against either of them.


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Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep in the earth.


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It's better for the ruler to give you a high position than for you to be embarrassed in front of royal officials. Be sure you are right


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If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.


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A thornbush waved around in the hand of a drunkard is no worse than a proverb in the mouth of a fool.


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If you have had enough to eat, honey doesn't taste good, but if you are really hungry, you will eat anything.


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Don't desert an old friend of your family or visit your relatives when you are in trouble. A friend nearby is better than relatives far away.


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It makes good sense to obey the Law of God, but you disgrace your parents if you make friends with worthless nobodies.


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If you make money by charging high interest rates, you will lose it all to someone who cares for the poor.


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By leading good people to sin, you dig a pit for yourself, but all who live right will have a bright future.


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If you don't confess your sins, you will be a failure. But God will be merciful if you confess your sins and give them up.


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The LORD blesses everyone who is afraid to do evil, but if you are cruel, you will end up in trouble.


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A heartless leader is a fool, but anyone who refuses to get rich by cheating others will live a long time.


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Giving to the poor will keep you from poverty, but if you close your eyes to their needs, everyone will curse you.


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When crooks are in control, everyone tries to hide, but when they lose power, good people are everywhere.


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Sneering at others is a spark that sets a city on fire; using good sense can put out the flames of anger.


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Be wise and don't sue a fool. You won't get satisfaction, because all the fool will do is sneer and shout.


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If you take part in a crime you are your worst enemy, because even under oath you can't tell the truth.


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These are the sayings and the message of Agur son of Jakeh. Someone cries out to God, "I am completely worn out! How can I last?


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Has anyone gone up to heaven and come back down? Has anyone grabbed hold of the wind? Has anyone wrapped up the sea or marked out boundaries for the earth? If you know of any who have done such things, then tell me their names and their children's names.


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If I have too much to eat, I might forget about you; if I don't have enough, I might steal and disgrace your name.


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Don't tell a slave owner something bad about one of the slaves. That slave will curse you, and you will be in trouble.


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Don't make fun of your father or disobey your mother-- crows will peck out your eyes, and buzzards will eat the rest of you.


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If you churn milk you get butter; if you pound on your nose, you get blood-- and if you stay angry, you get in trouble.


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Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the LORD deserves to be praised.


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All rivers empty into the sea, but it never spills over; one by one the rivers return to their source.


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All of life is far more boring than words could ever say. Our eyes and our ears are never satisfied with what we see and hear.


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No one who lived in the past is remembered anymore, and everyone yet to be born will be forgotten too.


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With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do.


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I said to myself, "You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot."


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Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.


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I wanted to find out what was best for us during the short time we have on this earth. So I decided to make myself happy with wine and find out what it means to be foolish, without really being foolish myself.


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I owned slaves, and their sons and daughters became my slaves. I had more sheep and goats than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem.


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Foreign rulers brought me silver, gold, and precious treasures. Men and women sang for me, and I had many wives who gave me great pleasure.


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Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.


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I asked myself, "What can the next king do that I haven't done?" Then I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and stupidity.


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Wisdom is like having two good eyes; foolishness leaves you in the dark. But wise or foolish, we all end up the same.


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Finally, I said to myself, "Being wise got me nowhere! The same thing will happen to me that happens to fools. Nothing makes sense.


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Suddenly I realized that others would someday get everything I had worked for so hard, then I started hating it all.


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Who knows if those people will be sensible or stupid? Either way, they will own everything I have earned by hard work and wisdom. It doesn't make sense.


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When we use our wisdom, knowledge, and skill to get what we own, why do we have to leave it to someone who didn't work for it? This is senseless and wrong.


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Our bodies ache during the day, and work is torture. Then at night our thoughts are troubled. It just doesn't make sense.


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The best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking, and working. I believe these are God's gifts to us,


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If we please God, he will make us wise, understanding, and happy. But if we sin, God will make us struggle for a living, then he will give all we own to someone who pleases him. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.


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God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future.


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Everything God has done will last forever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him.


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Everything that happens has happened before, and all that will be has already been-- God does everything over and over again.


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So I told myself that God has set a time and a place for everything. He will judge everyone, both the wicked and the good.


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Like animals we breathe and die, and we are no better off than they are. It just doesn't make sense.


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I looked again and saw people being mistreated everywhere on earth. They were crying, but no one was there to offer comfort, and those who mistreated them were powerful.


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But those who have never been born are better off than anyone else, because they have never seen the terrible things that happen on this earth."


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Then I realized that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.


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Yet a very little food eaten in peace is better than twice as much earned from overwork and chasing the wind.


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For example, some people don't have friends or family. But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more. They should ask themselves, "Why am I always working to have more? Who will get what I leave behind?" What a senseless and miserable life!


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You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn.


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If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.


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Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, "A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break."


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You may be poor and young. But if you are wise, you are better off than a foolish old king who won't listen to advice.


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Even if you were not born into the royal family and have been a prisoner and poor, you can still be king.


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His followers could not even be counted. But years from now, no one will praise him--this makes no more sense than chasing the wind.


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Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Some fools go there to offer sacrifices, even though they haven't sinned. But it's best just to listen when you go to worship.


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Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much.


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If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.


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Don't let your mouth get you in trouble! And don't say to the worship leader, "I didn't mean what I said." God can destroy everything you have worked for, so don't say something that makes God angry.


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Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do.


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If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn't make sense either.


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The more you have, the more everyone expects from you. Your money won't do you any good--others will just spend it for you.


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If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don't have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can't even sleep.


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Suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal, then have nothing to leave for their children.


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They came into this world naked, and when they die, they will be just as naked. They can't take anything with them, and they won't have anything to show for all their work.


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That's terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came into it. They gained nothing from running after the wind.


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What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do.


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Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard--this is God's gift to you.


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God may give you everything you want--money, property, and wealth. Then God doesn't let you enjoy it, and someone you don't even know gets it all. That's senseless and terribly unfair!


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You may live a long time and have a hundred children. But a child born dead is better off than you, unless you enjoy life and have a decent burial.


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That child will never live to see the sun or to have a name, and it will go straight to the world of darkness. But it will still find more rest than you,


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even if you live two thousand years and don't enjoy life. As you know, we all end up in the same place.


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We may be sensible, yet we are no better off than a fool. And if we are poor, it still doesn't do us any good to try to live right.


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It's better to enjoy what we have than to always want something else, because that makes no more sense than chasing the wind.


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Everything that happens was decided long ago. We humans know what we are like, and we can't argue with God, because he is too strong for us.


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Life is short and meaningless, and it fades away like a shadow. Who knows what is best for us? Who knows what will happen after we are gone?


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When times are good, you should be cheerful; when times are bad, think what it means. God makes them both to keep us from knowing what will happen next.


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I have seen everything during this senseless life of mine. I have seen good citizens die for doing the right thing, and I have seen criminals live to a ripe old age.


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So I decided to learn everything I could and become wise enough to discover what life is all about. At the same time, I wanted to understand why it's stupid and senseless to be an evil fool.


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Here is what I discovered: A bad woman is worse than death. She is a trap, reaching out with body and soul to catch you. But if you obey God, you can escape. If you don't obey, you are done for.


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but so far I have not been able to. I do know there is one good man in a thousand, but never have I found a good woman.


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I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.


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If you obey the king, you will stay out of trouble. So be smart and learn what to do and when to do it.


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We cannot control the wind or determine the day of our death. There is no escape in time of war, and no one can hide behind evil.


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I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another?


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I saw the wicked buried with honor, but God's people had to leave the holy city and were forgotten. None of this makes sense.


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When we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished, it makes us want to start a life of crime.


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They commit hundreds of crimes and live to a ripe old age, in spite of the saying: Everyone who lives right and respects God will prosper,


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There is something else that doesn't make sense to me. Good citizens are treated as criminals, while criminals are honored as though they were good citizens.


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So I think we should get as much out of life as we possibly can. There is nothing better than to enjoy our food and drink and to have a good time. Then we can make it through this troublesome life that God has given us here on earth.


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I saw everything God does, and I realized that no one can really understand what happens. We may be very wise, but no matter how much we try or how much we claim to know, we cannot understand it all.


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I thought about these things. Then I understood that God has power over everyone, even those of us who are wise and live right. Anything can happen to any of us, and so we never know if life will be good or bad.


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But exactly the same thing will finally happen to all of us, whether we live right and respect God or sin and don't respect God. Yes, the same thing will happen if we offer sacrifices to God or if we don't, if we keep our promises or break them.


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It's terribly unfair for the same thing to happen to each of us. We are mean and foolish while we live, and then we die.


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We know that we will die, but the dead don't know a thing. Nothing good will happen to them--they are gone and forgotten.


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Their loves, their hates, and their jealous feelings have all disappeared with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens on this earth.


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Life is short, and you love your wife, so enjoy being with her. This is what you are supposed to do as you struggle through life on this earth.


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Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or knows anything.


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Here is something else I have learned: The fastest runners and the greatest heroes don't always win races and battles. Wisdom, intelligence, and skill don't always make you healthy, rich, or popular. We each have our share of bad luck.


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None of us know when we might fall victim to a sudden disaster and find ourselves like fish in a net or birds in a trap.


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It happened when a powerful ruler surrounded and attacked a small city where only a few people lived. The enemy army was getting ready to break through the city walls.


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So I decided that wisdom is better than strength. Yet if you are poor, no one pays any attention to you, no matter how smart you are.


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A few dead flies in perfume make all of it stink, and a little foolishness outweighs a lot of wisdom.


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Don't even think about cursing the king; don't curse the rich, not even in secret. A little bird might hear and tell everything.


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No one can explain how a baby breathes before it is born. So how can anyone explain what God does? After all, he created everything.


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Plant your seeds early in the morning and keep working in the field until dark. Who knows? Your work might pay off, and your seeds might produce.


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Even if you live to a ripe old age, you should try to enjoy each day, because darkness will come and will last a long time. Nothing makes sense.


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Be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young! Do what you want and find pleasure in what you see. But don't forget that God will judge you for everything you do.


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Keep your Creator in mind while you are young! In years to come, you will be burdened down with troubles and say, "I don't enjoy life anymore."


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Someday the light of the sun and the moon and the stars will all seem dim to you. Rain clouds will remain over your head.


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The noisy grinding of grain will be shut out by your deaf ears, but even the song of a bird will keep you awake.


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You will be afraid to climb up a hill or walk down a road. Your hair will turn as white as almond blossoms. You will feel lifeless and drag along like an old grasshopper. We each go to our eternal home, and the streets are filled with those who mourn.


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The silver cord snaps, the golden bowl breaks; the water pitcher is smashed, and the pulley at the well is shattered.


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I was a wise teacher with much understanding, and I collected a number of proverbs that I had carefully studied.


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Words of wisdom are like the stick a farmer uses to make animals move. These sayings come from God, our only shepherd, and they are like nails that fasten things together.


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My child, I warn you to stay away from any teachings except these. There is no end to books, and too much study will wear you out.


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Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.


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and you smell so sweet. All the young women adore you; the very mention of your name is like spreading perfume. *


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Take me to your home. We are happy for you! And we praise your love even more than wine. Young women of Jerusalem, it is only right that you should adore him. My skin is dark and beautiful, like a tent in the desert or like Solomon's curtains.


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Don't stare at me just because the sun has darkened my skin. My brothers were angry with me; they made me work in the vineyard, and so I neglected my complexion. Don't let the other shepherds think badly of me.


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I'm not one of those women who shamelessly follow after shepherds. My darling, I love you! Where do you feed your sheep and let them rest at noon?


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My dearest, if you don't know, just follow the path of the sheep. Then feed your young goats near the shepherds' tents.


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And you, my love, are an apple tree among trees of the forest. Your shade brought me pleasure; your fruit was sweet.


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Young women of Jerusalem, promise me by the power of deer and gazelles never to awaken love before it is ready.


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Fig trees are bearing fruit, while blossoms on grapevines fill the air with perfume. My darling, I love you! Let's go away together.


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You are my dove hiding among the rocks on the side of a cliff. Let me see how lovely you are! Let me hear the sound of your melodious voice.


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While in bed at night, I reached for the one I love with heart and soul. I looked for him, but he wasn't there.


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Right after that, I found him. I held him and would not let go until I had taken him to the home of my mother.


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Young women of Jerusalem, promise me by the power of deer and gazelles, never to awaken love before it is ready.


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What do we see approaching from the desert like a cloud of smoke? With it comes the sweet smell of spices, including myrrh and frankincense.


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Its posts are silver, the back is gold, and the seat is covered with purple cloth. You women of Jerusalem have taken great care to furnish the inside.


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My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely-- as you look through your veil, your eyes are those of a dove. Your hair tosses about as gracefully as goats coming down from Gilead.


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Your lips are crimson cords, your mouth is shapely; behind your veil are hidden beautiful rosy cheeks.


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My bride, together we will leave Lebanon! We will say good-by to the peaks of Mount Amana, Senir, and Hermon, where lions and leopards live in the caves.


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My bride, my very own, you have stolen my heart! With one glance from your eyes and the glow of your necklace, you have stolen my heart.


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Your lips are a honeycomb; milk and honey flow from your tongue. Your dress has the aroma of cedar trees from Lebanon.


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You are a spring in the garden, a fountain of pure water, and a refreshing stream from Mount Lebanon.


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Let the north wind blow, the south wind too! Let them spread the aroma of my garden, so the one I love may enter and taste its delicious fruits.


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My bride, my very own, I come to my garden and enjoy its spices. I eat my honeycomb and honey; I drink my wine and milk. Eat and drink until you are drunk with love.


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I was asleep, but dreaming: The one I love was at the door, knocking and saying, "My darling, my very own, my flawless dove, open the door for me! My head is drenched with evening dew."


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My heart stood still while he spoke to me, but when I opened the door, my darling had disappeared. I searched and shouted, but I could not find him-- there was no answer.


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Then I was found by the guards patrolling the town and guarding the wall. They beat me up and stripped off my robe.


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Most beautiful of women, why is the one you love more special than others? Why do you ask us to tell him how you feel?


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His legs are columns of marble on feet of gold. He stands there majestic like Mount Lebanon and its choice cedar trees.


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My dearest, the cities of Tirzah and Jerusalem are not as lovely as you. Your charms are more powerful than all of the stars in the heavens.


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Turn away your eyes-- they make me melt. Your hair tosses about as gracefully as goats coming down from Gilead.


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You would be my only choice, my flawless dove, the favorite child of your mother. The young women, the queens, and all the others tell how excited you are as they sing your praises:


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"You are as majestic as the morning sky-- glorious as the moon-- blinding as the sun! Your charms are more powerful than all the stars above."


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Dance! Dance! Beautiful woman from Shulam, let us see you dance! Why do you want to see this woman from Shulam dancing with the others?


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You are a princess, and your feet are graceful in their sandals. Your thighs are works of art, each one a jewel;


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your navel is a wine glass filled to overflowing. Your body is full and slender like a bundle of wheat bound together by lilies.


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Your neck is like ivory, and your eyes sparkle like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbim. Your nose is beautiful like Mount Lebanon above the city of Damascus.


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I will climb that tree and cling to its branches. I will discover that your breasts are clusters of grapes, and that your breath is the aroma of apples.


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At dawn let's slip out and see if grapevines and fruit trees are covered with blossoms. When we are there, I will give you my love.


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Perfume from the magic flower fills the air, my darling. Right at our doorstep I have stored up for you all kinds of tasty fruits.


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If you were my brother, I could kiss you whenever we happen to meet, and no one would say I did wrong.


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I could take you to the home of my mother, who taught me all I know. I would give you delicious wine and fruit juice as well.


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Who is this young woman coming in from the desert and leaning on the shoulder of the one she loves? I stirred up your passions under the apple tree where you were born.


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Always keep me in your heart and wear this bracelet to remember me by. The passion of love bursting into flame is more powerful than death, stronger than the grave.


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Love cannot be drowned by oceans or floods; it cannot be bought, no matter what is offered. Their Friends Speak:


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We have a little sister whose breasts are not yet formed. If someone asks to marry her, what should we do?


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She isn't a wall that we can defend behind a silver shield. Neither is she a room that we can protect behind a wooden door.


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Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-Hamon, which he rents to others for a thousand pieces of silver each.


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My vineyard is mine alone! Solomon can keep his silver and the others can keep their share of the profits.


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I am Isaiah, the son of Amoz. And this is the message that I was given about Judah and Jerusalem when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah:


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Israel, you are a sinful nation loaded down with guilt. You are wicked and corrupt and have turned from the LORD, the holy God of Israel.


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Why be punished more? Why not give up your sin? Your head is badly bruised, and you are weak all over.


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From your head to your toes there isn't a healthy spot. Bruises, cuts, and open sores go without care or oil to ease the pain.


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Your country lies in ruins; your towns are in ashes. Foreigners and strangers take and destroy your land while you watch.


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Zion would have disappeared like Sodom and Gomorrah, if the LORD All-Powerful had not let a few of its people survive.


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"Your sacrifices mean nothing to me. I am sick of your offerings of rams and choice cattle; I don't like the blood of bulls or lambs or goats.


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Your sacrifices are worthless, and incense is disgusting. I can't stand the evil you do on your New Moon Festivals or on your Sabbaths and other times of worship.


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I hate your New Moon Festivals and all others as well. They are a heavy burden I am tired of carrying.


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and learn to live right. See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need."


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I, the LORD, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool.


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Jerusalem, you are like an unfaithful wife. Once your judges were honest and your people lived right; now you are a city full of murderers.


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Your leaders have rejected me to become friends of crooks; your rulers are looking for gifts and bribes. Widows and orphans never get a fair trial.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the mighty ruler of Israel, and I make you a promise: You are now my enemy, and I will show my anger by taking revenge on you.


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Jerusalem, I will choose judges and advisors like those you had before. Your new name will be "Justice and Faithfulness."


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Jerusalem, you will be saved by showing justice; Zion's people who turn to me will be saved by doing right.


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Your strongest leaders will be like dry wood set on fire by their idols. No one will be able to help, as they all go up in flames.


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In the future, the mountain with the LORD's temple will be the highest of all. It will reach above the hills; every nation will rush to it.


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Many people will come and say, "Let's go to the mountain of the LORD God of Jacob and worship in his temple." The LORD will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him.


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He will settle arguments between nations. They will pound their swords and their spears into rakes and shovels; they will never make war or attack one another.


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Our LORD, you have deserted your people, Israel, because they follow customs of nations from the east. They worship Philistine gods and are close friends of foreigners.


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Every one of you, go hide among the rocks and in the ground, because the LORD is fearsome, marvelous, and glorious.


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You had better hide in caves and holes-- the LORD will be fearsome, marvelous, and glorious when he comes to terrify people on earth.


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On that day everyone will throw to the rats and bats their idols of silver and gold they made to worship.


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The LORD will be fearsome, marvelous, and glorious when he comes to terrify people on earth-- they will hide in caves and in the hills.


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The mighty LORD All-Powerful is going to take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything you need-- your bread and water, *


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You will each be cruel to friends and neighbors. Young people will insult their elders; no one will show respect to those who deserve it.


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Some of you will grab hold of a relative and say, "You still have a coat. Be our leader and rule this pile of ruins."


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But the answer will be, "I can't do you any good. Don't make me your leader. There's no food or clothing left in my house."


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Jerusalem and Judah, you rebelled against your glorious LORD-- your words and your actions, made you stumble and fall.


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The look on your faces shows that you are sinful as Sodom, and you don't try to hide it. You are in for trouble, and you have brought it all on yourselves.


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Though you are God's people, you are ruled and abused by women and children. You are confused by leaders who guide you down the wrong path.


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He will even judge you rulers and leaders of his own nation. You destroyed his vineyard and filled your houses by robbing the poor.


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The LORD All-Powerful says, "You have crushed my people and rubbed in the dirt the faces of the poor."


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The LORD says: The women of Jerusalem are proud and strut around, winking shamelessly. They wear anklets that jingle and call attention to the way they walk.


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When that day comes, I will take away from those women all the fine jewelry they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, noses, fingers, and on their clothes. I will remove their veils, their belts, their perfume, their magic charms, their royal robes, and all their fancy dresses, hats, and purses.


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In place of perfume, there will be a stink; in place of belts, there will be ropes; in place of fancy hairdos, they will have bald heads. Instead of expensive clothes, they will wear sackcloth; instead of beauty, they will have ugly scars.


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When this happens, seven women will grab the same man, and each of them will say, "I'll buy my own food and clothes! Just marry me and take away my disgrace."


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The time is coming when the LORD will make his land fruitful and glorious again, and the people of Israel who survive will take great pride in what the land produces.


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Then the LORD will cover the whole city and its meeting places with a thick cloud each day and with a flaming fire each night. God's own glory will be like a huge tent that covers everything.


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It will provide shade from the heat of the sun and a place of shelter and protection from storms and rain.


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My friend dug the ground, removed the stones, and planted the best vines. He built a watchtower and dug a pit in rocky ground for pressing the grapes. He hoped they would be sweet, but bitter grapes were all it produced.


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What more could I have done for my vineyard? I hoped for sweet grapes, but bitter grapes were all that grew.


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Now I will let you know what I am going to do. I will cut down the hedge and tear down the wall. My vineyard will be trampled and left in ruins.


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It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor hoed; it will be covered with thorns and briars. I will command the clouds not to send rain.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with care. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.


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You are in for trouble! You take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the land.


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But the LORD All-Powerful has made this promise to me: Those large and beautiful homes will be left empty, with no one to take care of them.


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Ten acres of grapevines will produce only six gallons of juice, and five bushels of seed will produce merely a half-bushel of grain.


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At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the LORD has done,


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and so his people know nothing about him. That's why many of you will be dragged off to foreign lands. Your leaders will starve to death, and everyone else will suffer from thirst.


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The world of the dead has opened its mouth wide and is eagerly waiting for the leaders of Jerusalem and for its noisy crowds, especially for those who take pride in that city.


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His people will be like sheep grazing in their own pasture, and they will take off what was left by others.


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And you say, "Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see it for ourselves."


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You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy LORD God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot, and your blossoms will turn to dust.


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You are the LORD's people, but you made him terribly angry, and he struck you with his mighty arm. Mountains shook, and dead bodies covered the streets like garbage. The LORD is still angry, and he is ready to strike you again.


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The LORD has signaled for the foreign nations to come and attack you. He has already whistled, and they are coming as fast as they can.


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None of them are tired. They don't sleep or get drowsy, and they run without stumbling. Their belts don't come loose; their sandal straps don't break.


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Their arrows are sharp, and their bows are ready. The hoofs of their horses are hard as flint; the wheels of their war chariots turn as fast as a whirlwind.


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They roar and growl like fierce young lions as they grab their victims and drag them off where no one can rescue them.


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On the day they attack, they will roar like the ocean. And across the land you will see nothing but darkness and trouble, because the light of day will be covered by thick clouds.


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In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the LORD. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple.


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Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying,


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Then I cried out, "I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD All-Powerful."


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One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs.


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It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, "This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty."


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After this, I heard the LORD ask, "Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?" "I'll go," I answered. "Send me!"


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Then the LORD told me to go and speak this message to the people: "You will listen and listen, but never understand. You will look and look, but never see." The LORD also said,


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"Make these people stubborn! Make them stop up their ears, cover their eyes, and fail to understand. Don't let them turn to me and be healed."


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Then I asked the LORD, "How long will this last?" The LORD answered: Until their towns are destroyed and their houses are deserted, until their fields are empty,


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If only a tenth of the people are left, even they will be destroyed. But just as stumps remain after trees have been cut down, some of my chosen ones will be left.


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Ahaz, the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah when King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went to attack Jerusalem. But they were not able to do what they had planned.


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When news reached the royal palace that Syria had joined forces with Israel, King Ahaz and everyone in Judah were so terrified that they shook like trees in a windstorm.


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Then the LORD said to me: Take your son Shearjashub and go see King Ahaz. You will find him on the road near the cloth makers' shops at the end of the canal that brings water from the upper pool.


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Tell Ahaz to stop worrying. There's no need for him to be afraid of King Rezin and King Pekah. They are very angry, but they are nothing more than a dying fire. Ahaz doesn't need to fear


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Damascus is just the capital of Syria, and King Rezin rules only in Damascus. Samaria is just the capital of Israel, and King Pekah rules only in Samaria. But in less than sixty-five years, Israel will be destroyed. And if Ahaz and his officials don't trust me, they will be defeated.


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"Ask me for proof that my promise will come true. Ask for something to happen deep in the world of the dead or high in the heavens above."


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Then I said: Listen, every one of you in the royal family of David. You have already tried my patience. Now you are trying God's patience by refusing to ask for proof.


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But the LORD will still give you proof. A virgin is pregnant; she will have a son and will name him Immanuel.


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Even before the boy is old enough to know how to choose between right and wrong, he will eat yogurt and honey, and the countries of the two kings you fear will be destroyed.


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But the LORD will make more trouble for your people and your kingdom than any of you have known since Israel broke away from Judah. He will even bring the king of Assyria to attack you.


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When that time comes, the LORD will whistle, and armies will come from Egypt like flies and from Assyria like bees.


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They will settle everywhere--in the deep valleys and between the rocks, on every bush and all over the pastureland.


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The Lord will pay the king of Assyria to bring a razor from across the Euphrates River and shave your head and every hair on your body, including your beard.


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but those who do will have enough milk to make yogurt. In fact, everyone left in the land will eat yogurt and honey.


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Vineyards that had a thousand vines and were worth a thousand pieces of silver will turn into thorn patches.


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You will go there to hunt with your bow and arrows, because the whole country will be covered with thornbushes.


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The hills where you once planted crops will be overgrown with thorns and thistles. You will be afraid to go there, and your cattle, sheep, and goats will be turned loose on those hills.


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The LORD said, "Isaiah, get something to write on. Then write in big clear letters the name, MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ.


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Because before he can say 'Mommy' or 'Daddy', the king of Assyria will attack and take everything of value from Damascus and Samaria."


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These people have refused the gentle waters of Shiloah and have gladly gone over to the side of King Rezin and King Pekah.


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Now I will send the king of Assyria against them with his powerful army, which will attack like the mighty Euphrates River overflowing its banks.


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Enemy soldiers will cover Judah like a flood reaching up to your neck. But God is with us. He will spread his wings and protect our land.


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The LORD took hold of me with his powerful hand and said: I'm warning you! Don't act like these people.


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Don't call something a rebellious plot, just because they do, and don't be afraid of something, just because they are.


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Run to me for protection. I am a rock that will make both Judah and Israel stumble and break their bones. I am a trap that will catch the people of Jerusalem--they will be captured and dragged away.


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Someone may say to you, "Go to the fortunetellers who make soft chirping sounds or ask the spirits of the dead. After all, a nation ought to be able to ask its own gods


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They will go around in great pain and will become so hungry that they will angrily curse their king and their gods. And when they try to find help in heaven


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But those who have suffered will no longer be in pain. The territories of Zebulun and Naphtali in Galilee were once hated. But this land of the Gentiles across the Jordan River and along the Mediterranean Sea will be greatly respected.


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Those who walked in the dark have seen a bright light. And it shines upon everyone who lives in the land of darkest shadows.


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Our LORD, you have made your nation stronger. Because of you, its people are glad and celebrate like workers at harvest time or like soldiers dividing up what they have taken.


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You have broken the power of those who abused and enslaved your people. You have rescued them just as you saved your people from Midian.


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The boots of marching warriors and the blood-stained uniforms have been fed to flames and eaten by fire.


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A child has been born for us. We have been given a son who will be our ruler. His names will be Wonderful Advisor and Mighty God, Eternal Father and Prince of Peace.


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His power will never end; peace will last forever. He will rule David's kingdom and make it grow strong. He will always rule with honesty and justice. The LORD All-Powerful will make certain that all of this is done.


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and all of them knew it, including everyone in the capital city of Samaria. But they were proud and stubborn and said,


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"Houses of brick and sycamore have fallen to the ground, but we will build houses with stones and cedar."


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He sent the Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west, and they swallowed up Israel. But even this did not stop him from being angry, so he kept on punishing them.


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The Lord was angry with his people and kept punishing them, because they had turned against him. They were evil and spoke foolishly. That's why he did not have pity on their young people or on their widows and orphans.


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The LORD All-Powerful was angry and used the people as fuel for a fire that scorched the land. They turned against each other


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like wild animals attacking and eating everyone around them, even their own relatives. But still they were not satisfied.


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The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh turned against each other, then joined forces to attack Judah. But the LORD was still angry and ready to punish the nation even more.


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But what will you do when you are fiercely attacked and punished by foreigners? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your valuables?


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How will you escape being captured or killed? The Lord is still angry, and he isn't through with you yet!


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to beat down you godless people. I am angry with you, and I will send him to attack you. He will take what he wants and walk on you like mud in the streets.


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The gods of Jerusalem and Samaria are weaker than the gods of those powerful nations. And I will destroy Jerusalem, together with its gods and idols, just as I did Samaria.


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The Lord will do what he has planned against Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Then he will punish the proud and boastful king of Assyria,


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who says: I did these things by my own power because I am smart and clever. I attacked kings like a wild bull, and I took the land and the treasures of their nations.


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I have conquered the whole world! And it was easier than taking eggs from an unguarded nest. No one even flapped a wing or made a peep.


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King of Assyria, can an ax or a saw overpower the one who uses it? Can a wooden pole lift whoever holds it?


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The mighty LORD All-Powerful will send a terrible disease to strike down your army, and you will burn with fever under your royal robes.


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The holy God, who is the light of Israel, will turn into a fire, and in one day you will go up in flames, just like a thornbush.


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A time is coming when the survivors from Israel and Judah will completely depend on the holy LORD of Israel, instead of the nation that defeated them.


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There were as many people as there are grains of sand along the seashore, but only a few will survive to come back to Israel's mighty God. This is because he has threatened to destroy their nation, just as they deserve.


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Now the LORD God All-Powerful says to his people in Jerusalem: The Assyrians will beat you with sticks and abuse you, just as the Egyptians did. But don't be afraid of them.


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I will beat the Assyrians with a whip, as I did the people of Midian near the rock at Oreb. And I will show the same mighty power that I used when I made a path through the sea in Egypt.


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Then they will no longer rule your nation. All will go well for you, and your burden will be lifted.


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Enemy troops have reached the town of Aiath. They have gone through Migron, and they stored their supplies at Michmash,


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before crossing the valley and spending the night at Geba. The people of Ramah are terrified; everyone in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, has run away.


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But the LORD All-Powerful will use his fearsome might to bring down the tallest trees and chop off every branch.


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The Spirit of the LORD will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the LORD.


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His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD. This king won't judge by appearances or listen to rumors.


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The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness and with justice. His word will be law everywhere in the land, and criminals will be put to death.


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Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. Calves and lions will eat together and be cared for by little children.


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Cows and bears will share the same pasture; their young will rest side by side. Lions and oxen will both eat straw.


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Little children will play near snake holes. They will stick their hands into dens of poisonous snakes and never be hurt.


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Nothing harmful will take place on the LORD's holy mountain. Just as water fills the sea, the land will be filled with people who know and honor the LORD.


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The time is coming when one of David's descendants will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.


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When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast.


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He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth.


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Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want.


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The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across.


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Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.


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At that time you will say, "I thank you, LORD! You were angry with me, but you stopped being angry and gave me comfort.


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I trust you to save me, LORD God, and I won't be afraid. My power and my strength come from you, and you have saved me."


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At that time you will say, "Our LORD, we are thankful, and we worship only you. We will tell the nations how glorious you are and what you have done.


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From high on a barren hill give a signal, shout the orders, and point the way to enter the gates of Babylon's proud rulers.


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Listen to the noisy crowds on the mountains! Kingdoms and nations are joining forces. The LORD All-Powerful is bringing together an army for battle.


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From a distant land the LORD is coming fierce and furious-- he brings his weapons to destroy the earth.


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Everyone will tremble with pain like a woman giving birth; they will stare at each other with horror on their faces.


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I, the LORD, will show no mercy or pity when that time comes. In my anger I will destroy the earth and every sinner who lives on it.


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Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its glow.


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I will punish this evil world and its people because of their sins. I will crush the horrible pride of those who are cruel.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, am terribly angry-- I will make the sky tremble and the earth shake loose.


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Everyone will run to their homelands, just as hunted deer run, and sheep scatter when they have no shepherd.


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The city of Babylon is glorious and powerful, the pride of the nation. But it will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah after I, the Lord, destroyed them.


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No one will live in Babylon. Even nomads won't camp nearby, and shepherds won't let their sheep rest there.


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The LORD will have mercy on Israel and will let them be his chosen people once again. He will bring them back to their own land, and foreigners will join them as part of Israel.


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Other nations will lead them home, and Israel will make slaves of them in the land that belongs to the Lord. Israel will rule over those who once governed and mistreated them.


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Then you will make fun of the King of Babylonia by singing this song: That cruel monster is done for! He won't attack us again.


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King of Babylonia, even the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon celebrate and say, "Since you were put down, no one comes along to chop us down."


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The world of the dead eagerly waits for you. With great excitement, the spirits of ancient rulers hear about your coming.


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Your pride and your music have ended here in the world of the dead. Worms are your blanket, maggots are your bed."


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You, the bright morning star, have fallen from the sky! You brought down other nations; now you are brought down.


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You said to yourself, "I'll climb to heaven and place my throne above the highest stars. I'll sit there with the gods far away in the north.


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Those who see you will stare and wonder, "Is this the man who made the world tremble and shook up kingdoms?


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Did he capture every city and make earth a desert? Is he the one who refused to let prisoners go home?"


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But you will be left unburied, just another dead body lying underfoot like a broken branch. You will be one of many killed in battle and gone down to the deep rocky pit.


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You won't be buried with kings; you ruined your country and murdered your people. You evil monster! We hope that your family will be forgotten forever.


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We will slaughter your sons to make them pay for the crimes of their ancestors. They won't take over the world or build cities anywhere on this earth.


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The LORD All-Powerful has promised to attack Babylonia and destroy everyone there, so that none of them will ever be remembered again.


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I will wipe out every Assyrian in my country, and I will crush those on my mountains. I will free my people from slavery to the Assyrians.


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Philistines, don't be happy just because the rod that punished you is broken. That rod will become a poisonous snake, and then a flying fiery dragon.


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The poor and needy will find pastures for their sheep and will live in safety. But I will starve some of you, and others will be killed.


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Cry and weep in the gates of your towns, you Philistines! Smoke blows in from the north, and every soldier is ready.


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If a messenger comes from a distant nation, you must say: "The LORD built Zion. Even the poorest of his people will find safety there."


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This is a message about Moab: The towns of Ar and Kir were destroyed in a night. Moab is left in ruins!


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Everyone in Dibon has gone up to the temple and the shrines to cry and weep. All of Moab is crying. Heads and beards are shaved because of what happened at Nebo and Medeba.


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From Heshbon and Elealeh, weeping is heard in Jahaz; Moab's warriors scream while trembling with fear.


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I pity Moab! Its people are running to Zoar and to Eglath-Shelishiyah. They cry on their way up to the town of Luhith; on the road to Horonaim they tell of disasters.


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The people of Moab are leaving, crossing over Willow Creek, taking everything they own and have worked for.


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The streams near Dimon are flowing with blood. But the Lord will bring even worse trouble to Dimon, because all in Moab who escape will be attacked by lions.


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Moab's messengers say to the people of Judah, "Be kind and help us! Shade us from the heat of the noonday sun. Hide our refugees! Don't turn them away.


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Let our people live in your country and find safety here." Moab, your cruel enemies will disappear; they will no longer attack and destroy your land.


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Then a kingdom of love will be set up, and someone from David's family will rule with fairness. He will do what is right and quickly bring justice.


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Tell everyone in Moab to mourn for their nation. Tell them to cry and weep for those fancy raisins of Kir-Hareseth.


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Vineyards near Heshbon and Sibmah have turned brown. The rulers of nations used to get drunk on wine from those vineyards that spread to Jazer, then across the desert and beyond the sea.


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Now I mourn like Jazer for the vineyards of Sibmah. I shed tears for Heshbon and for Elealeh. There will be no more harvest celebrations


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or joyful and happy times, while bringing in the crops. Singing and shouting are gone from the vineyards. There are no joyful shouts where grapes were pressed. God has silenced them all.


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Now he says, "The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless."


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Israel will lose its fortresses. The kingdom of Damascus will be destroyed; its survivors will suffer the same fate as Israel. The LORD All-Powerful has promised this.


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When that time comes, the glorious nation of Israel will be brought down; its prosperous people will be skin and bones.


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It will be like an olive tree beaten with a stick, leaving two or three olives or maybe four or five on the highest or most fruitful branches. The LORD God of Israel has promised this.


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They have built altars and places for burning incense to their goddess Asherah, and they have set up sacred poles for her. But they will stop worshiping at these places.


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Israel captured powerful cities and chased out the people who lived there. But these cities will lie in ruins, covered over with weeds and underbrush.


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Israel, you have forgotten the God who saves you, the one who is the mighty rock where you find protection. You plant the finest flowers to honor a foreign god.


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The plants may sprout and blossom that very same morning, but it will do you no good, because you will suffer endless agony.


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But even if they roar like a fearsome flood, God will give the command to turn them back. They will be like dust, or like a tumbleweed blowing across the hills in a windstorm.


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In the evening their attack is fierce, but by morning they are destroyed. This is what happens to those who raid and rob us.


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Egypt sends messengers up the Nile River on ships made of reeds. Send them fast to Ethiopia, whose people are tall and have smooth skin. Their land is divided by rivers; they are strong and brutal, feared all over the world.


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Everyone on this earth, listen with care! A signal will be given on the mountains, and you will hear a trumpet.


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The LORD said to me, "I will calmly look down from my home above-- as calmly as the sun at noon or clouds in the heat of harvest season."


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Ethiopians will be food for mountain buzzards during the summer and for wild animals during the winter.


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Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the LORD All-Powerful, who is worshiped on Mount Zion.


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This is a message about Egypt: The LORD comes to Egypt, riding swiftly on a cloud. The people are weak from fear. Their idols tremble as he approaches and says,


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"Egypt will be discouraged when I confuse their plans. They will try to get advice from their idols, from the spirits of the dead, and from fortunetellers.


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I will put the Egyptians under the power of a cruel, heartless king. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have promised this."


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The king's officials in Zoan are foolish themselves and give stupid advice. How can they say to him, "We are very wise, and our families go back to kings of long ago?"


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Where are those wise men now? If they can, let them say what the LORD All-Powerful intends for Egypt.


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The royal officials in Zoan and in Memphis are foolish and deceived. The leaders in every state have given bad advice to the nation.


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When the LORD All-Powerful punishes Egypt with his mighty arm, the Egyptians will become terribly weak and will tremble with fear.


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They will be so terrified of Judah that they will be frightened by the very mention of its name. This will happen because of what the LORD All-Powerful is planning against Egypt.


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The time is coming when Hebrew will be spoken in five Egyptian cities, and their people will become followers of the LORD. One of these cities will be called City of the Sun.


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In the heart of Egypt an altar will be set up for the LORD; at its border a shrine will be built to honor him.


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These will remind the Egyptians that the LORD All-Powerful is with them. And when they are in trouble and ask for help, he will send someone to rescue them from their enemies.


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The LORD will show the Egyptians who he is, and they will know and worship the LORD. They will bring him sacrifices and offerings, and they will keep their promises to him.


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After the LORD has punished Egypt, the people will turn to him. Then he will answer their prayers, and the Egyptians will be healed.


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At that time a good road will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will travel back and forth from Egypt to Assyria, and they will worship together.


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then the LORD All-Powerful will bless them by saying, "The Egyptians are my people. I created the Assyrians and chose the Israelites."


text:
About this same time the LORD had told me, "Isaiah, take off everything, including your sandals!" I did this and went around naked and barefoot


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Everyone in these two countries will be led away naked and barefoot by the king of Assyria. Young or old, they will be taken prisoner, and Egypt will be disgraced.


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When this happens, the people who live along the coast will say, "Look what happened to them! We ran to them for safety, hoping they would protect us from the king of Assyria. But now, there is no escape for us."


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This is a message about a desert beside the sea: Enemies from a hostile nation attack like a whirlwind from the Southern Desert.


text:
What a horrible vision was shown to me-- a vision of betrayal and destruction. Tell Elam and Media to surround and attack the Babylonians. The LORD has sworn to end the suffering they caused.


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I'm in terrible pain like a woman giving birth. I'm shocked and hurt so much that I can't hear or see.


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In Babylon the high officials were having a feast. They were eating and drinking, when someone shouted, "Officers, take your places! Grab your shields."


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Now I see column after column of cavalry troops." Right away someone shouted, "Babylon has fallen! Every idol in the city lies broken on the ground."


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Then I said, "My people, you have suffered terribly, but I have a message for you from the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel."


text:
This is a message about Dumah: From the country of Seir, someone shouts to me, "Guard, how much longer before daylight?"


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From my guard post, I answered, "Morning will soon be here, but night will return. If you want to know more, come back later."


text:
This is a message for Arabs who live in the barren desert in the region of Dedan: You must order your caravans


text:
to bring water for those who are thirsty. You people of Tema must bring food for the hungry refugees.


text:
The Lord said to me: A year from now the glory of the people of Kedar will all come to an end, just as a worker's contract ends after a year.


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Only a few of their warriors will be left with bows and arrows. This is a promise that I, the LORD God of Israel, have made.


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Your city is filled with noisy shouts. Those who lie drunk in your streets were not killed in battle.


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Your leaders ran away, but they were captured without a fight. No matter how far they ran, they were found and caught.


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Then I said, "Leave me alone! Let me cry bitter tears. My people have been destroyed, so don't try to comfort me."


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The LORD All-Powerful had chosen a time for noisy shouts and confusion to fill Vision Valley, and for everyone to beg the mountains for help.


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Your most beautiful valleys were covered with chariots; your cities were surrounded by cavalry troops.


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Judah was left defenseless. At that time you trusted in the weapons you had stored in Forest Palace.


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You counted the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some of them, so you could get stones to repair the city wall.


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Then you built a large tank between the walls to store the water. But you refused to trust the God who planned this long ago and made it happen.


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When all of this happened, the LORD All-Powerful told you to weep and mourn, to shave your heads, and wear sackcloth.


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But instead, you celebrated by feasting on beef and lamb and by drinking wine, because you said, "Let's eat and drink! Tomorrow we may die."


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The LORD All-Powerful has spoken to me this solemn promise: "I won't forgive them for this, not as long as they live."


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Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here.


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He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve.


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He will give your official robes and your authority to his servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the royal family of Judah.


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The LORD will put him in charge of the key that belongs to King David's family. No one will be able to unlock what he locks, and no one will be able to lock what he unlocks.


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The LORD will make him as firm in his position as a tent peg hammered in the ground, and Eliakim will bring honor to his family.


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That peg is fastened firmly now, but someday it will be shaken loose and fall down. Then everything that was hanging on it will be destroyed. This is what the LORD All-Powerful has promised.


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This is a message from distant islands about the city of Tyre: Cry, you seagoing ships! Tyre and its houses lie in ruins.


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Mourn in silence, you shop owners of Sidon, you people on the coast. Your sailors crossed oceans, making your city rich.


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Your merchants sailed the seas, making you wealthy by trading with nation after nation. They brought back grain that grew along the Nile.


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Sidon, you are a mighty fortress built along the sea. But you will be disgraced like a married woman who never had children.


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The LORD All-Powerful planned it to bring shame and disgrace to those who are honored by everyone on earth.


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The LORD's hand has reached across the sea, upsetting the nations. He has given a command to destroy fortresses in the land of Canaan.


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The LORD has said to the people of Sidon, "Your celebrating is over-- you are crushed. Even if you escape to Cyprus, you won't find peace."


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Look what the Assyrians have done to Babylonia! They have attacked, destroying every palace in the land. Now wild animals live among the ruins.


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The city of Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, which is the lifetime of a king. Then Tyre will be like that evil woman in the song:


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You're gone and forgotten, you evil woman! So strut through the town, singing and playing your favorite tune to be remembered again.


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At the end of those seventy years, the LORD will let Tyre get back into business. The city will be like a woman who sells her body to everyone of every nation on earth,


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but none of what is earned will be kept in the city. That money will belong to the LORD, and it will be used to buy more than enough food and good clothes for those who worship the LORD.


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The LORD is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered,


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including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor.


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The earth is polluted because its people disobeyed the laws of God, breaking their agreement that was to last forever.


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From all over the world songs of praise are heard for the God of justice. But I feel awful, terribly miserable. Can anyone be trusted? So many are treacherous!


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If you are terrified and run, you will fall into a pit; if you crawl out of the pit, you will get caught in a trap. The sky has split apart like a window thrown open. The foundations of the earth have been shaken;


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It staggers and shakes like a drunkard or a hut in a windstorm. It is burdened down with sin; the earth will fall, never again to get up.


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The moon and sun will both be embarrassed and ashamed. The LORD All-Powerful will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where he will show its rulers his wonderful glory.


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You, LORD, are my God! I will praise you for doing the wonderful things you had planned and promised since ancient times.


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You have destroyed the fortress of our enemies, leaving their city in ruins. Nothing in that foreign city will ever be rebuilt.


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You have been a place of safety for the poor and needy in times of trouble. Brutal enemies pounded us like a heavy rain or the heat of the sun at noon, but you were our shelter.


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Those wild foreigners struck like scorching desert heat. But you were like a cloud, protecting us from the sun. You kept our enemies from singing songs of victory.


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On this mountain the LORD All-Powerful will prepare for all nations a feast of the finest foods. Choice wines and the best meats will be served.


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The LORD All-Powerful will destroy the power of death and wipe away all tears. No longer will his people be insulted everywhere. The LORD has spoken!


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At that time, people will say, "The LORD has saved us! Let's celebrate. We waited and hoped-- now our God is here."


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The powerful arm of the LORD will protect this mountain. The Moabites will be put down and trampled on like straw in a pit of manure.


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The time is coming when the people of Judah will sing this song: "Our city is protected. The LORD is our fortress, and he gives us victory.


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Throughout the night, my heart searches for you, because your decisions show everyone on this earth how to live right.


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Even when the wicked are treated with mercy in this land of justice, they do wrong and are blind to your glory, our LORD.


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Your hand is raised and ready to punish them, but they don't see it. Put them to shame! Show how much you care for us and throw them into the fire intended for your enemies.


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Those enemies are now dead and can never live again. You have punished them-- they are destroyed, completely forgotten.


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But instead of having a child, our terrible pain produced only wind. We have won no victories, and we have no descendants to take over the earth.


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Your people will rise to life! Tell them to leave their graves and celebrate with shouts. You refresh the earth like morning dew; you give life to the dead.


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Go inside and lock the doors, my people. Hide there for a little while, until the LORD is no longer angry.


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The LORD will come out to punish everyone on earth for their sins. And when he does, those who did violent crimes will be known and punished.


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On that day, Leviathan, the sea monster, will squirm and try to escape, but the LORD will kill him with a cruel, sharp sword.


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I, the LORD, will protect it and always keep it watered. I will guard it day and night to keep it from harm.


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I am no longer angry. But if it produces thorns, I will go to war against it and burn it to the ground.


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I, the LORD, didn't punish and kill the people of Israel as fiercely as I punished and killed their enemies.


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There's only one way that Israel's sin and guilt can be completely forgiven: They must crush the stones of every pagan altar and place of worship.


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Fortress cities are left like a desert where no one lives. Cattle walk through the ruins, stripping the trees bare.


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When broken branches fall to the ground, women pick them up to feed the fire. But these people are so stupid that the God who created them will show them no mercy.


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The time is coming when the LORD will shake the land between the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he will bring all of his people together.


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A loud trumpet will be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria and Egypt will return to worship the LORD on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.


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The city of Samaria above a fertile valley is in for trouble! Its leaders are drunkards, who stuff themselves with food and wine. But they will be like flowers that dry up and wilt.


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Only the Lord is strong and powerful! His mighty hand will strike them down with the force of a hailstorm or a mighty whirlwind or an overwhelming flood.


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Samaria above a fertile valley will quickly lose its glory. It will be gobbled down like the first ripe fig at harvest season.


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Priests and prophets stumble because they are drunk. Their minds are too confused to receive God's messages or give honest decisions.


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Now his message to you will be senseless sound after senseless sound. Then you will fall backwards, injured and trapped.


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Do you think you have an agreement with death and the world of the dead? Why do you trust in your lies to keep you safe from danger and the mighty flood?


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And so the LORD says, "I'm laying a firm foundation for the city of Zion. It's a valuable cornerstone proven to be trustworthy; no one who trusts it will ever be disappointed.


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Justice and fairness will be the measuring lines that help me build." Hailstones and floods will destroy and wash away your shelter of lies.


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Your agreement with death and the world of the dead will be broken. Then angry, roaring waves will sweep over you.


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Morning, noon, and night an overwhelming flood will wash you away. The terrible things that happen will teach you this lesson:


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The LORD will fiercely attack as he did at Mount Perazim and in Gibeon Valley. But this time the LORD will do something surprising, not what you expect.


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So you had better stop sneering or you will be in worse shape than ever before. I heard the LORD All-Powerful threaten the whole country with destruction.


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When a field is ready, they scatter the seeds of dill and cumin; they plant the seeds of wheat and barley in the proper places.


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Wheat and barley are pounded, but not beaten to pulp; they are run over with a wagon, but not ground to dust.


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Jerusalem, city of David, the place of my altar, you are in for trouble! Celebrate your festivals year after year.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, will come to your rescue with a thundering earthquake and a fiery whirlwind.


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Every brutal nation that attacks Jerusalem and makes it suffer will disappear like a dream when night is over.


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Those nations that attack Mount Zion will suffer from hunger and thirst. They will dream of food and drink but wake up weary and hungry and thirsty as ever.


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Now his message is like a sealed letter to you. Some of you say, "We can't read it, because it's sealed."


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The Lord has said: "These people praise me with their words, but they never really think about me. They worship me by repeating rules made up by humans.


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So once again I will do things that shock and amaze them, and I will destroy the wisdom of those who claim to know and understand."


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You are in for trouble, if you try to hide your plans from the LORD! Or if you think what you do in the dark can't be seen.


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You have it all backwards. A clay dish doesn't say to the potter, "You didn't make me. You don't even know how."


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The deaf will be able to hear whatever is read to them; the blind will be freed from a life of darkness.


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The LORD who rescued Abraham has this to say about Jacob's descendants: "They will no longer be ashamed and disgraced.


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When they see how great I have made their nation, they will praise and honor me, the holy God of Israel.


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This is the LORD's message for his rebellious people: "You follow your own plans instead of mine; you make treaties without asking me, and you keep on sinning.


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You trust Egypt for protection. So you refuse my advice and send messengers to Egypt to beg their king for help.


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This is a message about the animals of the Southern Desert: You people carry treasures on donkeys and camels. You travel to a feeble nation through a troublesome desert filled with lions and flying fiery dragons.


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and have said to his messengers and prophets: Don't tell us what God has shown you and don't preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it's false.


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Now this is the answer of the holy God of Israel: "You rejected my message, and you trust in violence and lies.


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and shatter like a crushed bowl. There's not a piece left big enough to carry hot coals or to dip out water."


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The holy LORD God of Israel had told all of you, "I will keep you safe if you turn back to me and calm down. I will make you strong if you quietly trust me." Then you stubbornly


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As few as five of them, or even one, will be enough to chase a thousand of you. Finally, all that will be left will be a few survivors as lonely as a flag pole on a barren hill.


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The LORD God is waiting to show how kind he is and to have pity on you. The LORD always does right; he blesses those who trust him.


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People of Jerusalem, you don't need to cry anymore. The Lord is kind, and as soon as he hears your cries for help, he will come.


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The Lord has given you trouble and sorrow as your food and drink. But now you will again see the Lord, your teacher, and he will guide you.


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Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice saying, "This is the road! Now follow it."


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Then you will treat your idols of silver and gold like garbage; you will throw them away like filthy rags.


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The Lord will send rain to water the seeds you have planted--your fields will produce more crops than you need, and your cattle will graze in open pastures.


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On that day people will be slaughtered and towers destroyed, but streams of water will flow from high hills and towering mountains.


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Then the LORD will bandage his people's injuries and heal the wounds he has caused. The moon will shine as bright as the sun, and the sun will shine seven times brighter than usual. It will be like the light of seven days all at once.


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The LORD is coming from far away with his fiery anger and thick clouds of smoke. His angry words flame up like a destructive fire;


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he breathes out a flood that comes up to the neck. He sifts the nations and destroys them. Then he puts a bridle in every foreigner's mouth and leads them to doom.


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The LORD's people will sing as they do when they celebrate a religious festival at night. The LORD is Israel's mighty rock, and his people will be as happy as they are when they follow the sound of flutes to the mountain where he is worshiped.


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The LORD will get furious. His fearsome voice will be heard, his arm will be seen ready to strike, and his anger will be like a destructive fire, followed by thunderstorms and hailstones.


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When the Assyrians hear the LORD's voice and see him striking with his iron rod, they will be terrified.


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He will attack them in battle, and each time he strikes them, it will be to the music of tambourines and harps.


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Long ago the LORD got a place ready for burning the body of the dead king. The place for the fire is deep and wide, the wood is piled high, and the LORD will start the fire by breathing out flaming sulfur.


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You are in for trouble if you go to Egypt for help, or if you depend on an army of chariots or a powerful cavalry. Instead you should depend on and trust the holy LORD God of Israel.


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The LORD isn't stupid! He does what he promises, and he can bring doom. If you are cruel yourself, or help those who are evil, you will be destroyed.


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The Egyptians are mere humans. They aren't God. Their horses are made of flesh; they can't live forever. When the LORD shows his power, he will destroy the Egyptians and all who depend on them. Together they will fall.


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The LORD All-Powerful said to me, "I will roar and attack like a fearless lion not frightened by the shouts of shepherds trying to protect their sheep. That's how I will come down and fight on Mount Zion.


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The time is coming when you will throw away your idols of silver and gold, made by your sinful hands.


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The Assyrians will be killed, but not by the swords of humans. Their young men will try to escape, but they will be captured and forced into slavery.


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Their fortress will fall when terror strikes; their army officers will be frightened and run from the battle. This is what the LORD has said, the LORD whose fiery furnace is built on Mount Zion.


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They will be a place of safety from stormy winds, a stream in the desert, and a rock that gives shade from the heat of the sun.


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Fools talk foolishness. They always make plans to do sinful things, to lie about the LORD, to let the hungry starve, and to keep water from those who are thirsty.


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Cruel people tell lies-- they do evil things, and make cruel plans to destroy the poor and needy, even when they beg for justice.


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You may not have worries now, but in about a year, the grape harvest will fail, and you will tremble.


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The palace will be deserted, the crowded city empty. Fortresses and towers will forever become playgrounds for wild donkeys and pastures for sheep.


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You will have God's blessing, as you plant your crops beside streams, while your donkeys and cattle roam freely about.


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You defeated my people. Now you're in for trouble! You've never been destroyed, but you will be destroyed; you've never been betrayed, but you will be betrayed. When you have finished destroying and betraying, you will be destroyed and betrayed in return.


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Please, LORD, be kind to us! We depend on you. Make us strong each morning, and come to save us when we are in trouble.


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You, LORD, are above all others, and you live in the heavens. You have brought justice and fairness to Jerusalem;


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you are the foundation on which we stand today. You always save us and give true wisdom and knowledge. Nothing means more to us than obeying you.


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Listen! Our bravest soldiers are running through the streets, screaming for help. Our messengers hoped for peace, but came home crying.


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No one travels anymore; every road is empty. Treaties are broken, and no respect is shown to any who keep promises.


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Fields are dry and barren; Mount Lebanon wilts with shame. Sharon Valley is a desert; the forests of Bashan and Carmel have lost their leaves.


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Those terrible sinners on Mount Zion tremble as they ask in fear, "How can we possibly live where a raging fire never stops burning?"


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But there will be rewards for those who live right and tell the truth, for those who refuse to take money by force or accept bribes, for all who hate murder and violent crimes.


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Then you will ask yourself, "Where are those officials who terrified us and forced us to pay such heavy taxes?"


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You will never again have to see the proud people who spoke a strange and foreign language you could not understand.


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Look to Mount Zion where we celebrate our religious festivals. You will see Jerusalem, secure as a tent with pegs that cannot be pulled up and fastened with ropes that can never be broken.


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Our wonderful LORD will be with us! There will be deep rivers and wide streams safe from enemy ships.


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But your nation is a ship with its rigging loose, its mast shaky, and its sail not spread. Someday even you that are lame will take everything you want from your enemies.


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Each star will disappear-- the sky will roll up like a scroll. Everything in the sky will dry up and wilt like leaves on a vine or fruit on a tree.


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After the sword of the LORD has done what it wants to the skies above, it will come down on Edom, the nation that the LORD has doomed for destruction.


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The sword of the LORD is covered with blood from lambs and goats, together with fat from kidneys of rams. This is because the LORD will slaughter many people and make a sacrifice of them in the city of Bozrah and everywhere else in Edom.


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Edom's leaders are wild oxen. They are powerful bulls, but they will die with the others. Their country will be soaked with their blood, and its soil made fertile with their fat.


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Edom's streams will turn into tar and its soil into sulfur-- then the whole country will go up in flames.


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It will burn night and day and never stop smoking. Edom will be a desert, generation after generation; no one will ever travel through that land.


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Owls, hawks, and wild animals will make it their home. God will leave it in ruins, merely a pile of rocks.


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Its palaces and fortresses will be covered with thorns; only wolves and ostriches will make their home there.


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Wildcats and hyenas will hunt together, demons will scream to demons, and creatures of the night will live among the ruins.


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Owls will nest there to raise their young among its shadows, while families of buzzards circle around.


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In The Book of the LORD you can search and find where it is written, "The LORD brought together all of his creatures by the power of his Spirit. Not one is missing."


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The LORD has decided where they each should live; they will be there forever, generation after generation.


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Deserts will bloom everywhere and sing joyful songs. They will be as majestic as Mount Lebanon, as glorious as Mount Carmel or Sharon Valley. Everyone will see the wonderful splendor of the LORD our God. *


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"Cheer up! Don't be afraid. Your God is coming to punish your enemies. God will take revenge on them and rescue you."


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Those who were lame will leap around like deer; tongues once silent will begin to shout. Water will rush through the desert.


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Scorching sand will turn into a lake, and thirsty ground will flow with fountains. Grass will grow in wetlands, where packs of wild dogs once made their home.


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A good road will be there, and it will be named "God's Sacred Highway." It will be for God's people; no one unfit to worship God will walk on that road. And no fools can travel on that highway.


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No lions or other wild animals will come near that road; only those the LORD has saved will travel there.


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The people the LORD has rescued will come back singing as they enter Zion. Happiness will be a crown they will always wear. They will celebrate and shout because all sorrows and worries will be gone far away.


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Hezekiah had been king of Judah for fourteen years when King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city


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except Jerusalem. The Assyrian king ordered his army commander to leave the city of Lachish and to take a large army to Jerusalem. The commander went there and stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool.


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Three of the king's highest officials came out of Jerusalem to meet him. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.


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The Assyrian commander told them: I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself.


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Is Hezekiah now depending on the LORD, your God? Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the LORD's altars and places of worship? Didn't he tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?


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The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people! He will give you two thousand horses, if you have enough troops to ride them.


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The Assyrian army commander answered, "My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you!"


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Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted out in Hebrew: Listen to what the great king of Assyria says!


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Stop listening to Hezekiah. Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns


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for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards and raise your own grain.


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Hezekiah claims the LORD will save you. But don't be fooled by him. Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria?


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What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim? Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces?


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None of these gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the LORD, your God, can do any better?


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He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell me:


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Isaiah, these are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born.


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I told them that the LORD had this message for Hezekiah: I am the LORD. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria.


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Meanwhile the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.


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About this same time, the king of Assyria learned that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:


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LORD God All-Powerful of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures. You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world.


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But you are our LORD and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only LORD.


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I went to Hezekiah and told him that the LORD God of Israel had said: Hezekiah, you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. Now this is what I say to that king: The people of Jerusalem hate and make fun of you; they laugh behind your back.


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Sennacherib, now listen to me, the LORD. I planned all of this long ago. And you don't even know that I alone am the one who decided that you would do these things. I let you make ruins of fortified cities.


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Their people became weak, terribly confused. They were like wild flowers or like tender young grass growing on a flat roof or like a field of grain before it matures.


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Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year, you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest.


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I will protect it for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.


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The LORD sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed one hundred eighty-five thousand of them all in one night. The next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies.


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About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. So I went in and told him, "The LORD says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, and so you had better start doing what needs to be done."


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with this message for Hezekiah: I am the LORD God, who was worshiped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will let you live fifteen years more,


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Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps. Then the shadow went back ten steps.


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My life was taken from me like the tent that a shepherd pulls up and moves. You cut me off like thread from a weaver's loom; you make a wreck of me day and night.


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Until morning came, I thought you would crush my bones just like a hungry lion; both night and day you make a wreck of me.


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I cry like a swallow; I mourn like a dove. My eyes are red from looking to you, LORD. I am terribly abused. Please come and help me.


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There's nothing I can say in answer to you, since you are the one who has done this to me. My life has turned sour; I will limp until I die.


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Your words and your deeds bring life to everyone, including me. Please make me healthy and strong again.


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It was for my own good that I had such hard times. But your love protected me from doom in the deep pit, and you turned your eyes away from my sins.


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No one in the world of the dead can thank you or praise you; none of those in the deep pit can hope for you to show them how faithful you are.


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Only the living can thank you, as I am doing today. Each generation tells the next about your faithfulness.


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You, LORD, will save me, and every day that we live we will sing in your temple to the music of stringed instruments.


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I had told King Hezekiah's servants to put some mashed figs on the king's open sore, and he would get well.


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Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah was well, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him.


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I asked Hezekiah, "Where did these men come from? What did they want?" "They came all the way from Babylonia," Hezekiah answered.


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Hezekiah thought, "At least our nation will be at peace for a while." So he told me, "The message you brought from the LORD is good."


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Speak kindly to Jerusalem and announce: Your slavery is past; your punishment is over. I, the LORD, made you pay double for your sins."


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Someone told me to shout, and I asked, "What should I shout?" We humans are merely grass, and we last no longer than wild flowers.


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There is good news for the city of Zion. Shout it as loud as you can from the highest mountain. Don't be afraid to shout to the towns of Judah, "Your God is here!"


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Look! The powerful LORD God is coming to rule with his mighty arm. He brings with him what he has taken in war, and he rewards his people.


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The LORD cares for his nation, just as shepherds care for their flocks. He carries the lambs in his arms, while gently leading the mother sheep.


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Did any of you measure the ocean by yourself or stretch out the sky with your own hands? Did you put the soil of the earth in a bucket or weigh the hills and mountains on balance scales?


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To the LORD, all nations are merely a drop in a bucket or dust on balance scales; all of the islands are but a handful of sand.


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The cattle on Lebanon's mountains would not be enough to offer as a sacrifice to God, and the trees would not be enough for the fire.


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Is an idol at all like God? It is made of bronze with a thin layer of gold, and decorated with silver.


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Or special wood may be chosen because it doesn't rot-- then skilled hands take care to make an idol that won't fall on its face.


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God is the one who rules the whole earth, and we that live here are merely insects. He spread out the heavens like a curtain or an open tent.


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They are like flowers freshly sprung up and starting to grow. But when God blows on them, they wilt and are carried off like straw in a storm.


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Look at the evening sky! Who created the stars? Who gave them each a name? Who leads them like an army? The LORD is so powerful that none of the stars are ever missing.


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You people of Israel, say, "God pays no attention to us! He doesn't care if we are treated unjustly." But how can you say that?


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Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The LORD is the eternal God, Creator of the earth. He never gets weary or tired; his wisdom cannot be measured.


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But those who trust the LORD will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired.


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Be silent and listen, every island in the sea. Have courage and come near, every one of you nations. Let's settle this matter!


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Who appointed this ruler from the east? Who puts nations and kings in his power? His sword and his arrows turn them to dust blown by the wind.


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Who makes these things happen? Who controls human events? I do! I am the LORD. I was there at the beginning; I will be there at the end.


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Woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and other workers encourage one another and say, "We've done a great job!" Then they nail the idol down, so it won't fall over.


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From far across the earth I brought you here and said, "You are my chosen servant. I haven't forgotten you."


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Don't be afraid. I am with you. Don't tremble with fear. I am your God. I will make you strong, as I protect you with my arm and give you victories.


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People of Israel, don't worry, though others may say, "Israel is only a worm!" I am the holy God of Israel, who saves and protects you.


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I will let you be like a log covered with sharp spikes. You will grind and crush every mountain and hill until they turn to dust.


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A strong wind will scatter them in all directions. Then you will celebrate and praise me, your LORD, the holy God of Israel.


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When the poor and needy are dying of thirst and cannot find water, I, the LORD God of Israel, will come to their rescue. I won't forget them.


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I will make rivers flow on mountain peaks. I will send streams to fill the valleys. Dry and barren land will flow with springs and become a lake.


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I will fill the desert with all kinds of trees-- cedars, acacias, and myrtles; olive and cypress trees; fir trees and pines.


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Come near me, you idols. Tell us about the past, and we will think about it. Tell us about the future, so we will know what is going to happen.


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Prove that you are gods by making your predictions come true. Do something good or evil, so we can be amazed and terrified.


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I, the LORD, appointed a ruler in the north; now he comes from the east to honor my name. He tramples kings like mud, as potters trample clay.


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Did any of you idols predict what would happen? Did any of you get it right? None of you told about this or even spoke a word.


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I was the first to tell the people of Jerusalem, "Look, it's happening!" I was the one who announced this good news to Zion.


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Here is my servant! I have made him strong. He is my chosen one; I am pleased with him. I have given him my Spirit, and he will bring justice to the nations.


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He won't break off a bent reed or put out a dying flame, but he will make sure that justice is done.


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He won't quit or give up until he brings justice everywhere on earth, and people in foreign nations long for his teaching.


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I am the LORD God. I created the heavens like an open tent above. I made the earth and everything that grows on it. I am the source of life for all who live on this earth, so listen to what I say.


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I chose you to bring justice, and I am here at your side. I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations.


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Tell the whole world to sing a new song to the LORD! Tell those who sail the ocean and those who live far away to join in the praise.


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The LORD is marching out like an angry soldier, shouting with all his might while attacking his enemies.


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For a long time, I, the LORD, have held my temper; now I will scream and groan like a woman giving birth.


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I will lead the blind on roads they have never known; I will guide them on paths they have never traveled. Their road is dark and rough, but I will give light to keep them from stumbling. This is my solemn promise.


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But his people were trapped and imprisoned in holes with no one to rescue them. All they owned had been taken, and no one was willing to give it back.


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Israel sinned and refused to obey the LORD or follow his instructions. So the LORD let them be robbed of everything they owned.


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He was furious with them and punished their nation with the fires of war. Still they paid no attention. They didn't even care when they were surrounded and scorched by flames.


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Descendants of Jacob, I, the LORD, created you and formed your nation. Israel, don't be afraid. I have rescued you. I have called you by name; now you belong to me.


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When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by the flames.


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I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, the God who saves you. I gave up Egypt, Ethiopia, and the region of Seba in exchange for you.


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I will say to the north and to the south, "Free my sons and daughters! Let them return from distant lands.


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Tell everyone of every nation to gather around. None of them can honestly say, "We told you so!" If someone heard them say this, then tell us about it now.


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My people, you are my witnesses and my chosen servant. I want you to know me, to trust me, and understand that I alone am God. I have always been God; there can be no others.


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I promised to save you, and I kept my promise. You are my witnesses that no other god did this. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I, the LORD, will rescue you! I am Israel's holy God, and this is my promise: For your sake, I will send an army against Babylon to drag its people away, crying as they go.


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I sent an army to chase you with chariots and horses; now they lie dead, unable to move. They are like an oil lamp with the flame snuffed out.


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I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands.


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Every wild animal honors me, even jackals and owls. I provide water in deserts-- streams in thirsty lands for my chosen people.


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You have not honored me by sacrificing sheep or other animals. And I have not burdened you with demands for sacrifices or sweet-smelling incense.


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You have not brought delicious spices for me or given me the best part of your sacrificed animals. Instead, you burden me down with your terrible sins.


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That's why I don't allow your priests to serve me; I let Israel be destroyed and your people disgraced.


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I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born. Israel, don't be terrified! You are my chosen servant, my very favorite.


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I will bless the thirsty land by sending streams of water; I will bless your descendants by giving them my Spirit.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the first and the last, the one and only God. Israel, I have rescued you! I am your King.


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Can anyone compare with me? If so, let them speak up and tell me now. Let them say what has happened since I made my nation long ago, and let them tell what is going to happen.


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Don't tremble with fear! Didn't I tell you long ago? Didn't you hear me? I alone am God-- no one else is a mighty rock.


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Those people who make idols are nothing themselves, and the idols they treasure are just as worthless. Worshipers of idols are blind, stupid, and foolish.


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Everyone who makes idols and all who worship them are mere humans, who will end up sadly disappointed. Let them face me in court and be terrified.


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A metalworker shapes an idol by using a hammer and heat from the fire. In his powerful hand he holds a hammer, as he pounds the metal into the proper shape. But he gets hungry and thirsty and loses his strength.


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Some woodcarver measures a piece of wood, then draws an outline. The idol is carefully carved with each detail exact. At last it looks like a person and is placed in a temple.


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Either cedar, cypress, oak, or any tree from the forest may be chosen. Or even a pine tree planted by the woodcarver and watered by the rain.


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Some of the wood is used to make a fire for heating or for cooking. One piece is made into an idol, then the woodcarver bows down and worships it.


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They don't have enough sense to say to themselves, "I made a fire with half of the wood and cooked my bread and meat on it. Then I made something worthless with the other half. Why worship a block of wood?"


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How can anyone be stupid enough to trust something that can be burned to ashes? No one can save themselves like that. Don't they realize that the idols they hold in their hands are not really gods?


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People of Israel, you are my servant, so remember all of this. Israel, I created you, and you are my servant. I won't forget you.


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Tell the heavens and the earth to start singing! Tell the mountains and every tree in the forest to join in the song! The LORD has rescued his people; now they will worship him.


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Israel, I am your LORD. I am your source of life, and I have rescued you. I created everything from the sky above to the earth below.


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I make liars of false prophets and fools of fortunetellers. I take human wisdom and turn it into nonsense.


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I will make the message of my prophets come true. They are saying, "Jerusalem will be filled with people, and the LORD will rebuild the towns of Judah."


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I am also the one who says, "Cyrus will lead my people and obey my orders. Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt."


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The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one: I have taken hold of your right hand to help you capture nations and remove kings from power. City gates will open for you; not one will stay closed.


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I will give you treasures hidden in dark and secret places. Then you will know that I, the LORD God of Israel, have called you by name.


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Cyrus, you don't even know me! But I have called you by name and highly honored you because of Israel, my chosen servant.


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Tell the heavens to send down justice like showers of rain. Prepare the earth for my saving power to sprout and produce justice that I, the LORD, create.


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Israel, you have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn't ask, "Why did you make me this way? Where are the handles?"


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Children don't have the right to demand of their parents, "What have you done to make us what we are?"


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I am the LORD, the Creator, the holy God of Israel. Do you dare question me about my own nation or about what I have done?


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I have done the right thing by placing Cyrus in power, and I will make the roads easy for him to follow. I am the LORD All-Powerful! Cyrus will rebuild my city and set my people free without being paid a thing. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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My people, I, the LORD, promise that the riches of Egypt and the treasures of Ethiopia will belong to you. You will force into slavery those tall people of Seba. They will bow down and say, "The only true God is with you; there are no other gods."


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The LORD alone is God! He created the heavens and made a world where people can live, instead of creating an empty desert. The LORD alone is God; there are no others.


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The LORD did not speak in a dark secret place or command Jacob's descendants to search for him in vain. The LORD speaks the truth, and this is what he says


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to every survivor from every nation: "Gather around me! Learn how senseless it is to worship wooden idols or pray to helpless gods.


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"Why don't you get together and meet me in court? Didn't I tell you long ago what would happen? I am the only God! There are no others. I bring about justice, and have the power to save.


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They will admit that I alone can bring about justice. Everyone who is angry with me will be terribly ashamed and will turn to me.


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The gods Bel and Nebo are down on their knees, as wooden images of them are carried away on weary animals.


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They are down on their knees to rescue the heavy load, but the images are still taken to a foreign country.


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You survivors in Israel, listen to me, the LORD. Since the day you were born, I have carried you along.


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I will still be the same when you are old and gray, and I will take care of you. I created you. I will carry you and always keep you safe.


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Some people hire a goldsmith and give silver and gold to be formed into an idol for them to worship.


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They carry the idol on their shoulders, then put it on a stand, but it cannot move. They call out to the idol when they are in trouble, but it doesn't answer, and it cannot help.


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I alone am God! There are no other gods; no one is like me. Think about what happened many years ago.


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and brought someone from a distant land to do what I wanted. He attacked from the east, like a hawk swooping down. Now I will keep my promise and do what I planned.


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I will soon come to save you. I am not far away and will waste no time; I take pride in Israel and will save Jerusalem.


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City of Babylon, You are delicate and untouched, but that will change. Surrender your royal power and sit in the dirt.


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I was angry with my people. So I let you take their land and bring disgrace on them. You showed them no mercy, but were especially cruel to those who were old.


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You thought that you would be queen forever. You didn't care what you did; it never entered your mind that you might get caught.


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You think that you alone are all-powerful, that you won't be a widow or lose your children. All you care about is pleasure, but listen to what I say.


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You hid behind evil like a shield and said, "No one can see me!" You were fooled by your wisdom and your knowledge; you felt sure that you alone were in full control.


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Keep using your magic powers and your charms as you have always done. Maybe--just maybe-- you will frighten somebody!


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You have worn yourself out, asking for advice from those who study the stars and tell the future month after month. Go ask them how to be saved from what will happen.


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People who trust the stars are as helpless as straw in a flaming fire. No one can even keep warm, sitting by a fire that feeds only on straw.


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These are the fortunetellers you have done business with all of your life. But they don't know where they are going, and they can't save you.


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People of Israel, you come from Jacob's family and the tribe of Judah. You claim to worship me, the LORD God of Israel, but you are lying.


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And I told you these things, so that when they happened you would not say, "The idols we worship did this."


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You heard what I said, and you have seen it happen. Now admit that it's true! I will show you secrets you have never known.


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You have never been willing to listen to what I say; from the moment of your birth, I knew you would rebel.


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Gather around me, all of you! Listen to what I say. Did any of your idols predict this would happen? Did they say that my friend would do what I want done to Babylonia?


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Come closer and listen! I have never kept secret the things I have said, and I was here before time began. By the power of his Spirit the LORD God has sent me


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with this message: People of Israel, I am the holy LORD God, the one who rescues you. For your own good, I teach you, and I lead you along the right path.


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How I wish that you had obeyed my commands! Your success and good fortune would then have overflowed like a flooding river.


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Your nation would be blessed with more people than there are grains of sand along the seashore. And I would never have let your country be destroyed.


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Now leave Babylon! Celebrate as you go. Be happy and shout for everyone to hear, "The LORD has rescued his servant Israel!


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Everyone, listen, even you foreign nations across the sea. The LORD chose me and gave me a name before I was born.


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He made my words pierce like a sharp sword or a pointed arrow; he kept me safely hidden in the palm of his hand.


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I said to myself, "I'm completely worn out; my time has been wasted. But I did it for the LORD God, and he will reward me."


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Even before I was born, the LORD God chose me to serve him and to lead back the people of Israel. So the LORD has honored me and made me strong.


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Now the LORD says to me, "It isn't enough for you to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead back survivors from the tribes of Israel. I have placed you here as a light for other nations; you must take my saving power to everyone on earth."


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Israel, I am the holy LORD God, the one who rescues you. You are slaves of rulers and of a nation who despises you. Now this is what I promise: Kings and rulers will honor you by kneeling at your feet. You can trust me! I am your LORD, the holy God of Israel, and you are my chosen ones.


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This is what the LORD says: I will answer your prayers because I have set a time when I will help by coming to save you. I have chosen you to take my promise of hope to other nations. You will rebuild the country from its ruins, then people will come and settle there.


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You will set prisoners free from dark dungeons to see the light of day. On their way home, they will find plenty to eat, even on barren hills.


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They won't go hungry or get thirsty; they won't be bothered by the scorching sun or hot desert winds. I will be merciful while leading them along to streams of water.


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Tell the heavens and the earth to celebrate and sing; command every mountain to join in the song. The LORD's people have suffered, but he has shown mercy and given them comfort.


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The LORD answered, "Could a mother forget a child who nurses at her breast? Could she fail to love an infant who came from her own body? Even if a mother could forget, I will never forget you.


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"Your city will be built faster than it was destroyed -- those who attacked it will retreat and leave.


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Look around! You will see your people coming home. As surely as I live, I, the LORD, promise that your city with its people will be as lovely as a bride wearing her jewelry."


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Jerusalem is now in ruins! Nothing is left of the city. But it will be rebuilt and soon overcrowded; its cruel enemies will be gone far away.


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Jerusalem is a woman whose children were born while she was in deep sorrow over the loss of her husband. Now those children will come and seek room in the crowded city,


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and Jerusalem will ask, "Am I really their mother? How could I have given birth when I was still mourning in a foreign land? Who raised these children? Where have they come from?"


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The LORD God says: "I will soon give a signal for the nations to return your sons and your daughters to the arms of Jerusalem.


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The kings and queens of those nations where they were raised will come and bow down. They will take care of you just like a slave taking care of a child. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You won't be disappointed if you trust me."


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But the LORD has promised to fight on our side and to rescue our children from those strong and violent enemies.


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He will make those cruel people dine on their own flesh and get drunk from drinking their own blood. Then everyone will know that the LORD is our Savior; the powerful God of Israel has rescued his people.


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The LORD says, "Children, I didn't divorce your mother or sell you to pay debts; I divorced her and sold you because of your sins.


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I came and called out, but you didn't answer. Have I lost my power to rescue and save? At my command oceans and rivers turn into deserts; fish rot and stink for lack of water.


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The LORD God gives me the right words to encourage the weary. Each morning he awakens me eager to learn his teaching;


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I let them beat my back and pull out my beard. I didn't turn aside when they insulted me and spit in my face.


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But the LORD God keeps me from being disgraced. So I refuse to give up, because I know God will never let me down.


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The LORD God will help me and prove I am innocent. My accusers will wear out like moth-eaten clothes.


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None of you respect the LORD or obey his servant. You walk in the dark instead of the light; you don't trust the name of the LORD your God.


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Go ahead and walk in the light of the fires you have set. But with his own hand, the LORD will punish you and make you suffer.


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If you want to do right and obey the LORD, follow Abraham's example. He was the rock from which you were chipped.


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God chose Abraham and Sarah to be your ancestors. The LORD blessed Abraham, and from that one man came many descendants.


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Though Zion is in ruins, the LORD will bring comfort, and the city will be as lovely as the garden of Eden that he provided. Then Zion will celebrate; it will be thankful and sing joyful songs.


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The LORD says: You are my people and nation! So pay attention to me. My teaching will cause justice to shine like a light for every nation.


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Those who live across the sea are eagerly waiting for me to rescue them. I am strong and ready; soon I will come to save and to rule all nations.


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Look closely at the sky! Stare at the earth. The sky will vanish like smoke; the earth will wear out like clothes. Everyone on this earth will die like flies. But my victory will last; my saving power never ends.


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If you want to do right and to obey my teaching with all your heart, then pay close attention. Don't be discouraged when others insult you and say hurtful things.


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They will be eaten away like a moth-eaten coat. But my victory will last; my saving power will never end.


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Wake up! Do something, LORD. Be strong and ready. Wake up! Do what you did for our people long ago. Didn't you chop up Rahab the monster?


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Now those you have rescued will return to Jerusalem, singing on their way. They will be crowned with great happiness, never again to be burdened with sadness and sorrow.


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I am the LORD, the one who encourages you. Why are you afraid of mere humans? They dry up and die like grass.


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I spread out the heavens and laid foundations for the earth. But you have forgotten me, your LORD and Creator. All day long you were afraid of those who were angry and hoped to abuse you. Where are they now?


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Everyone crying out in pain will be quickly set free; they will be rescued from the power of death and never go hungry.


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I have told you what to say, and I will keep you safe in the palm of my hand. I spread out the heavens and laid foundations for the earth. Now I say, "Jerusalem, your people are mine."


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Jerusalem, wake up! Stand up! You've drunk too much from the cup filled with the LORD's anger. You have swallowed every drop, and you can't walk straight.


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The LORD your God is angry, and on every street corner your children lie helpless, like deer trapped in nets.


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to the LORD your God, who defends you and says, "I have taken from your hands the cup filled with my anger that made you drunk. You will never be forced to drink it again.


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Jerusalem, wake up! Stand up and be strong. Holy city of Zion, dress in your best clothes. Those foreigners who ruined your sacred city won't bother you again.


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The LORD says: My people, you were sold, but not for money; now you will be set free, but not for a payment.


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and now another nation has taken you prisoner for no reason at all. Your leaders groan with pain, and day after day my own name is cursed.


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What a beautiful sight! On the mountains a messenger announces to Jerusalem, "Good news! You're saved. There will be peace. Your God is now King."


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Jerusalem, rise from the ruins! Join in the singing. The LORD has given comfort to his people; he comes to your rescue.


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The LORD has shown all nations his mighty strength; now everyone will see the saving power of our God.


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Leave the city of Babylon! Don't touch anything filthy. Wash yourselves. Be ready to carry back everything sacred that belongs to the LORD.


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You won't need to run. No one is chasing you. The LORD God of Israel will lead and protect you from enemy attacks.


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Many were horrified at what happened to him. But everyone who saw him was even more horrified because he suffered until he no longer looked human.


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My servant will make nations worthy to worship me; kings will be silent as they bow in wonder. They will see and think about things they have never seen or thought about before.


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Like a young plant or a root that sprouts in dry ground, the servant grew up obeying the LORD. He wasn't some handsome king. Nothing about the way he looked made him attractive to us.


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He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, "He is a nobody!"


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He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.


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All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him the punishment we deserved.


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He was painfully abused, but he did not complain. He was silent like a lamb being led to the butcher, as quiet as a sheep having its wool cut off.


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He was condemned to death without a fair trial. Who could have imagined what would happen to him? His life was taken away because of the sinful things my people had done.


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The LORD decided his servant would suffer as a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others. Now the servant will live to see his own descendants. He did everything the LORD had planned.


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By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the LORD. Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty.


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The LORD will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.


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Sing and shout, even though you have never had children! The LORD has promised that you will have more children than someone married for a long time.


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You and your descendants will take over the land of other nations. You will settle in towns that are now in ruins.


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Don't be afraid or ashamed and don't be discouraged. You won't be disappointed. Forget how sinful you were when you were young; stop feeling ashamed for being left a widow.


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The LORD All-Powerful, the Holy God of Israel, rules all the earth. He is your Creator and husband, and he will rescue you.


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You were like a young wife, brokenhearted and crying because her husband had divorced her. But the LORD your God says, "I am taking you back!


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For a while, I turned away in furious anger. Now I will have mercy and love you forever! I, your protector and LORD, make this promise."


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I once promised Noah that I would never again destroy the earth by a flood. Now I have promised that I will never again get angry and punish you.


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Every mountain and hill may disappear. But I will always be kind and merciful to you; I won't break my agreement to give your nation peace.


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Jerusalem, you are sad and discouraged, tossed around in a storm. But I, the LORD, will rebuild your city with precious stones; for your foundation I will use blue sapphires.


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You will be built on fairness with no fears of injustice; every one of your worries will be taken far from you.


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Don't forget that I created metalworkers who make weapons over burning coals. I also created armies that can bring destruction.


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Weapons made to attack you won't be successful; words spoken against you won't hurt at all. My servants, Jerusalem is yours! I, the LORD, promise to bless you with victory.


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If you are thirsty, come and drink water! If you don't have any money, come, eat what you want! Drink wine and milk without paying a cent.


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Why waste your money on what really isn't food? Why work hard for something that doesn't satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and you will enjoy the very best foods.


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Pay close attention! Come to me and live. I will promise you the eternal love and loyalty that I promised David.


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You will call out to nations you have never known. And they have never known you, but they will come running because I am the LORD, the holy God of Israel, and I have honored you.


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Give up your crooked ways and your evil thoughts. Return to the LORD our God. He will be merciful and forgive your sins.


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"Rain and snow fall from the sky. But they don't return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat.


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That's how it is with my words. They don't return to me without doing everything I send them to do."


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When you are set free, you will celebrate and travel home in peace. Mountains and hills will sing as you pass by, and trees will clap.


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Cypress and myrtle trees will grow in fields once covered by thorns. And then those trees will stand as a lasting witness to the glory of the LORD.


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The LORD said: Be honest and fair! Soon I will come to save you; my saving power will be seen everywhere on earth.


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Foreigners who worship me must not say, "The LORD won't let us be part of his people." Men who are unable to become fathers must no longer say, "We are dried-up trees."


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Then I will set up monuments in my temple with your names written on them. This will be much better than having children, because these monuments will stand there forever.


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Foreigners will follow me. They will love me and worship in my name; they will respect the Sabbath and keep our agreement.


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I will bring them to my holy mountain, where they will celebrate in my house of worship. Their sacrifices and offerings will always be welcome on my altar. Then my house will be known as a house of worship for all nations.


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You leaders of Israel should be watchdogs, protecting my people. But you can't see a thing, and you never warn them. Dozing and daydreaming are all you ever do.


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You stupid leaders are a pack of hungry and greedy dogs that never get enough. You are shepherds who mistreat your own sheep for selfish gain.


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You say to each other, "Let's drink till we're drunk! Tomorrow we'll do it again. We'll really enjoy ourselves."


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You people are unfaithful! You go to fortunetellers, and you worship idols. Now pay close attention!


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All you think about is sex under those green trees where idols are worshiped. You sacrifice your children on altars built in valleys under rocky slopes.


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You have chosen to worship idols made of stone; you have given them offerings of wine and grain. Should I be pleased?


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Even in your homes you have placed pagan symbols all around your huge beds. Yes, you have rejected me, sold yourselves to your lovers, and gone to bed with them.


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You smear on olive oil and all kinds of perfume to worship the god Molech. You even seek advice from spirits of the dead.


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Though you tired yourself out by running after idols, you refused to stop. Your desires were so strong that they kept you going.


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Did you forget about me and become unfaithful because you were more afraid of someone else? Have I been silent so long that you no longer fear me?


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Ask your idols to save you when you are in trouble. Be careful though-- it takes only a faint breath to blow them over. But if you come to me for protection, this land and my holy mountain will always belong to you.


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Our holy God lives forever in the highest heavens, and this is what he says: Though I live high above in the holy place, I am here to help those who are humble and depend only on me.


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My people, I won't stay angry and keep on accusing you. After all, I am your Creator. I don't want you to give up in complete despair.


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Your greed made me furious. That's why I punished you and refused to be found, while you kept returning to your old sinful ways.


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I know what you are like! But I will heal you, lead you, and give you comfort, until those who are mourning


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Shout the message! Don't hold back. Say to my people Israel: You've sinned! You've turned against the LORD.


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Day after day, you worship him and seem eager to learn his teachings. You act like a nation that wants to do right by obeying his laws. You ask him about justice, and say you enjoy worshiping the LORD.


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You wonder why the LORD pays no attention when you go without eating and act humble. But on those same days that you give up eating, you think only of yourselves and abuse your workers.


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Do you think the LORD wants you to give up eating and to act as humble as a bent-over bush? Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes? Is this really what he wants on a day of worship?


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I'll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused!


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Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives.


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Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed. Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the LORD will defend you from behind.


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When you beg the LORD for help, he will answer, "Here I am!" Don't mistreat others or falsely accuse them or say something cruel.


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Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless. Then your light will shine in the dark; your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun.


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The LORD will always guide you and provide good things to eat when you are in the desert. He will make you healthy. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water or like a stream that never runs dry.


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You will rebuild those houses left in ruins for years; you will be known as a builder and repairer of city walls and streets.


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But first, you must start respecting the Sabbath as a joyful day of worship. You must stop doing and saying whatever you please on this special day.


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Then you will truly enjoy knowing the LORD. He will let you rule from the highest mountains and bless you with the land of your ancestor Jacob. The LORD has spoken!


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Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God. That's why he doesn't answer your prayers or let you see his face.


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Your talk is filled with lies and plans for violence; every finger on your hands is covered with blood.


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You eat the deadly eggs of poisonous snakes, and more snakes crawl out from the eggs left to hatch. You weave spider webs,


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You hurry off to do wrong or murder innocent victims. All you think about is sin; you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go.


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You don't know how to live in peace or to be fair with others. The roads you make are crooked; your followers cannot find peace.


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No one has come to defend us or to bring about justice. We hoped for a day of sunshine, but all we found was a dark, gloomy night.


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We feel our way along, as if we were blind; we stumble at noon, as if it were night. We can see no better than someone dead.


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How often have we sinned and turned against you, the LORD God? Our sins condemn us! We have done wrong.


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We have rebelled and refused to follow you. Our hearts were deceitful, and so we lied; we planned to abuse others and turn our backs on you.


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Injustice is everywhere; justice seems far away. Truth is chased out of court; honesty is shoved aside.


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Everyone tells lies; those who turn from crime end up ruined. When the LORD noticed that justice had disappeared, he became very displeased.


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It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it. So with his own powerful arm, he won victories for truth.


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Now the LORD will get furious and do to his enemies, both near and far, what they did to his people.


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He will attack like a flood in a mighty windstorm. Nations in the west and the east will then honor and praise his wonderful name.


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The LORD says: "My people, I promise to give you my Spirit and my message. These will be my gifts to you and your families forever. I, the LORD, have spoken."


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Open your eyes! Look around! Crowds are coming. Your sons are on their way from distant lands; your daughters are being carried like little children.


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When you see this, your faces will glow; your hearts will pound and swell with pride. Treasures from across the sea and the wealth of nations will be brought to you.


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Your country will be covered with caravans of young camels from Midian and Ephah. The people of Sheba will bring gold and spices in praise of me, the LORD.


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Every sheep of Kedar will come to you; rams from Nebaioth will be yours as well. I will accept them as offerings and bring honor to my temple.


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On those distant islands your people are waiting for me, the LORD. Seagoing ships lead the way to bring them home with their silver and gold. I, the holy LORD God of Israel, do this to honor your people, so they will honor me.


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Jerusalem, your city walls will be rebuilt by foreigners; their rulers will become your slaves. I punished you in my anger; now I will be kind and treat you with mercy.


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Your gates will be open day and night to let the rulers of nations lead their people to you with all their treasures.


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Wood from Lebanon's best trees will be brought to you-- the pines, the firs, and the cypress trees. It will be used in my temple to make beautiful the place where I rest my feet.


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The descendants of enemies who hated and mistreated you will kneel at your feet. They will say, "You are Zion, the city of the LORD, the holy God of Israel."


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You were hated and deserted, rejected by everyone. But I will make you beautiful, a city to be proud of for all time to come.


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You will drain the wealth of kings and foreign nations. You will know that I, the mighty LORD God of Israel, have saved and rescued you.


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I will bring bronze and iron in place of wood and stone; in place of bronze and iron, I will bring gold and silver. I will appoint peace and justice as your rulers and leaders.


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Violence, destruction, and ruin will never again be heard of within your borders. "Victory" will be the name you give to your walls; "Praise" will be the name you give to your gates.


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You won't need the light of the sun or the moon. I, the LORD your God, will be your eternal light and bring you honor.


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Your sun will never set or your moon go down. I, the LORD, will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will come to an end.


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Your people will live right and always own the land; they are the trees I planted to bring praise to me.


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Even the smallest family will be a powerful nation. I am the LORD, and when the time comes, I will quickly do all this.


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The Spirit of the LORD God has taken control of me! The LORD has chosen and sent me to tell the oppressed the good news, to heal the brokenhearted, and to announce freedom for prisoners and captives.


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This is the year when the LORD God will show kindness to us and punish our enemies. The LORD has sent me to comfort those who mourn,


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especially in Jerusalem. He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts. They will be called "Trees of Justice," planted by the LORD to honor his name.


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But they themselves will be priests and servants of the LORD our God. The treasures of the nations will belong to them, and they will be famous.


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They were terribly insulted and horribly mistreated; now they will be greatly blessed and joyful forever.


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I, the LORD, love justice! But I hate robbery and injustice. My people, I solemnly promise to reward you with an eternal agreement.


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Your descendants will be known in every nation. All who see them will realize that they have been blessed, by me, the LORD.


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I celebrate and shout because of my LORD God. His saving power and justice are the very clothes I wear. They are more beautiful than the jewelry worn by a bride or a groom.


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The LORD will bring about justice and praise in every nation on earth, like flowers blooming in a garden.


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Jerusalem, I will speak up for your good. I will never be silent till you are safe and secure, sparkling like a flame.


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Your name will no longer be "Deserted and Childless," but "Happily Married." You will please the LORD; your country will be his bride.


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Your people will take the land, just as a young man takes a bride. The LORD will be pleased because of you, just as a husband is pleased with his bride.


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Jerusalem, on your walls I have stationed guards, whose duty it is to speak out day and night, without resting. They must remind the LORD


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The LORD has given his word and made this promise: "Never again will I give to your enemies the grain and grapes for which you struggled.


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As surely as you harvest your grain and grapes, you will eat your bread with thankful hearts, and you will drink your wine in my temple."


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People of Jerusalem, open your gates! Repair the road to the city and clear it of stones; raise a banner to help the nations find their way.


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Here is what the LORD has said for all the earth to hear: "Soon I will come to save the city of Zion, and to reward you.


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Then you will be called, 'The LORD's Own People, The Ones He Rescued!' Your city will be known as a good place to live and a city full of people."


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Who is this coming from Bozrah in Edom with clothes stained red? Who is this hero marching in his glorious uniform? "It's me, the LORD! I have won the battle, and I can save you!"


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"I alone stomped the grapes! None of the nations helped. I stomped nations in my anger and stained my clothes with their blood.


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No one was there to help me or to give support; my mighty arm won the battle, strengthened by my anger.


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I will tell about the kind deeds the LORD has done. They deserve praise! The LORD has shown mercy to the people of Israel; he has been kind and good.


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It troubled the LORD to see them in trouble, and his angel saved them. The LORD was truly merciful, so he rescued his people. He took them in his arms and carried them all those years.


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Then the LORD's people turned against him and made his Holy Spirit sad. So he became their enemy and attacked them.


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But his people remembered what had happened during the time of Moses. Didn't the LORD bring them and their leaders safely through the sea? Didn't he give them his Holy Spirit?


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The glorious power of the LORD marched beside Moses. The LORD will be praised forever for dividing the sea.


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His Spirit gave them rest, just as cattle find rest when led into a valley. The name of the LORD was praised for doing these things.


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Please, LORD, look down from your holy and glorious home in the heavens and see what's going on. Have you lost interest? Where is your power? Show that you care about us and have mercy!


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Our ancestors Abraham and Jacob have both rejected us. But you are still our Father; you have been our protector since ancient times.


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Why did you make us turn away from you, our LORD? Why did you make us want to disobey you? Please change your mind! We are your servants, your very own people.


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Be a spark that starts a fire causing water to boil. Then your enemies will know who you are; all nations will tremble because you are nearby.


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You help all who gladly obey and do what you want, but sin makes you angry. Only by your help can we ever be saved.


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We are unfit to worship you; each of our good deeds is merely a filthy rag. We dry up like leaves; our sins are storm winds sweeping us away.


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No one worships in your name or remains faithful. You have turned your back on us and let our sins melt us away.


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Don't be so furious or keep our sins in your thoughts forever! Remember that all of us are your people.


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Zion's glorious and holy temple where our ancestors praised you has been destroyed by fire. Our beautiful buildings are now a pile of ruins.


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I, the LORD, was ready answer even those who were not asking and to be found by those who were not searching. To a nation that refused to worship me, I said, "Here I am!"


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They keep making me angry by sneering at me, while offering sacrifices to idols in gardens and burning incense to them on bricks.


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They spend their nights hiding in burial caves; they eat the meat of pigs, cooked in sauces made of stuff unfit to eat.


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And then they say to others, "Don't come near us! We're dedicated to God." Such people are like smoke, irritating my nose all day.


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I, the LORD, will make them pay for their sins and for those of their ancestors-- they have disgraced me by burning incense on mountains.


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Here is what the LORD says: A cluster of grapes that produces wine is worth keeping! So, because of my servants, I won't destroy everyone.


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I have chosen the people of Israel and Judah, and I will bless them with many descendants. They will settle here in this land of mountains, and it will be theirs.


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My people will worship me. Then the coastlands of Sharon and the land as far as Achor Valley will turn into pastureland where cattle and sheep will feed and rest.


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What will I, the LORD, do if any of you reject me and my holy mountain? What will happen to you for offering food and wine to the gods you call "Good Luck" and "Fate"?


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Your luck will end! I will see to it that you are slaughtered with swords. You refused to answer when I called out; you paid no attention to my instructions. Instead, you did what I hated, knowing it was wrong.


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I, the LORD God, will give food and drink to my servants, and they will celebrate. But all of you sinners will go hungry and thirsty, overcome with disgrace.


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I, the LORD God, promise to see that you are killed and that my chosen servants use your names as curse words. But I will give new names to my servants.


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I am God! I can be trusted. Your past troubles are gone; I no longer think of them. When you pray for someone to receive a blessing, or when you make a promise, you must do it in my name. I alone am the God who can be trusted.


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I will celebrate with Jerusalem and all of its people; there will be no more crying or sorrow in that city.


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No child will die in infancy; everyone will live to a ripe old age. Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young, and to die younger than that will be considered a curse.


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No one will take away their homes or vineyards. My chosen people will live to be as old as trees, and they will enjoy what they have earned.


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Their work won't be wasted, and their children won't die of dreadful diseases. I will bless their children and their grandchildren.


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Wolves and lambs will graze together; lions and oxen will feed on straw. Snakes will eat only dirt! They won't bite or harm anyone on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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The LORD said: Heaven is my throne; the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build for me? In what place will I rest?


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I have made everything; that's how it all came to be. I, the LORD, have spoken. The people I treasure most are the humble-- they depend only on me and tremble when I speak.


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You sacrifice oxen to me, and you commit murder; you sacrifice lambs to me and dogs to other gods; you offer grain to me and pigs' blood to idols; you burn incense to me and praise your idols. You have made your own choice to do these disgusting things that you enjoy so much.


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You refused to answer when I called out; you paid no attention to my instructions. Instead, you did what I hated, knowing it was wrong. Now I will punish you in a way you dread the most.


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If you tremble when the LORD speaks, listen to what he says: "Some of your own people hate and reject you because of me. They make fun and say, 'Let the LORD show his power! Let us see him make you truly happy.' But those who say these things will be terribly ashamed."


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Do you hear that noise in the city and those shouts coming from the temple? It is the LORD shouting as he punishes his enemies.


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Who ever heard of such a thing or imagined it could happen? Can a nation be born in a day or come to life in a second? Jerusalem is like a mother who gave birth to her children as soon as she was in labor.


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The LORD is the one who makes birth possible. And he will see that Zion has many more children. The LORD has spoken.


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If you love Jerusalem, celebrate and shout! If you were in sorrow because of the city, you can now be glad.


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She will nurse and comfort you, just like your own mother, until you are satisfied. You will fully enjoy her wonderful glory.


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The LORD has promised: "I will flood Jerusalem with the wealth of nations and make the city prosper. Zion will nurse you at her breast, carry you in her arms, and hold you in her lap.


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When you see this happen, you will celebrate; your strength will return faster than grass can sprout. Then everyone will know that the LORD is present with his servants, but he is angry with his enemies.


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The LORD will come down like a whirlwind with his flaming chariots. He will be terribly furious and punish his enemies with fire.


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Some of you get yourselves ready and go to a garden to worship a foreign goddess. You eat the meat of pigs, lizards, and mice. But I, the LORD, will destroy you for this.


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I know everything you do and think! The time has now come to bring together the people of every language and nation and to show them my glory


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by proving what I can do. I will send the survivors to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, Javan, and to the distant islands. I will send them to announce my wonderful glory to nations that have never heard about me.


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They will bring your relatives from the nations as an offering to me, the LORD. They will come on horses, chariots, wagons, mules, and camels to Jerusalem, my holy mountain. It will be like the people of Israel bringing the right offering to my temple.


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I promise that some of them will be priests and others will be helpers in my temple. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever.


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On the first day of each month and on each Sabbath, everyone will worship me. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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My people will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who turned against me. The worms there never die, the fire never stops burning, and the sight of those bodies will be disgusting to everyone.


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My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the LORD told me to say.


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and he continued to speak to me during the rule of Josiah's son Jehoiakim. The last time the LORD spoke to me was in the fifth month of the eleventh year that Josiah's son Zedekiah was king. That was also when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.


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"Jeremiah, I am your Creator, and before you were born, I chose you to speak for me to the nations."


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"Don't say you're too young," the LORD answered. "If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don't leave out a word!


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The LORD reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, "I am giving you the words to say,


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and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again."


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The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "A branch of almonds that ripen early."


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Then the LORD showed me something else and asked, "What do you see now?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water in the north, and it's about to spill out toward us."


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Just watch while I send for the kings of the north. They will attack and capture Jerusalem and other towns, then set up their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem.


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Jeremiah, get ready! Go and tell the people what I command you to say. Don't be frightened by them, or I will make you terrified while they watch.


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My power will make you strong like a fortress or a column of iron or a wall of bronze. You will oppose all of Judah, including its kings and leaders, its priests and people.


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to go to Jerusalem and tell everyone that he had said: When you were my young bride, you loved me and followed me through the barren desert.


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You belonged to me alone, like the first part of the harvest, and I severely punished those who mistreated you.


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and I, the LORD, will speak. I was never unfair to your ancestors, but they left me and became worthless by following worthless idols.


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Your ancestors refused to ask for my help, though I had rescued them from Egypt and led them through a treacherous, barren desert, where no one lives or dares to travel.


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The priests who teach my laws don't care to know me. Your leaders rebel against me; your prophets give messages from Baal and worship false gods.


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of a crime that no nation has ever committed before. Just ask anyone, anywhere, from the eastern deserts to the islands in the west.


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You will find that no nation has ever abandoned its gods even though they were false. I am the true and glorious God, but you have rejected me to worship idols.


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You, my people, have sinned in two ways-- you have rejected me, the source of life-giving water, and you've tried to collect water in cracked and leaking pits dug in the ground.


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Your own sins will punish you, because it was a bitter mistake for you to reject me without fear of punishment. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken.


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Long ago you left me and broke all ties between us, refusing to be my servant. Now you worship other gods by having sex on hilltops or in the shade of large trees.


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The LORD said: People of Israel, you are stained with guilt, and no soap or bleach can wash it away.


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You deny your sins and say, "We aren't unclean. We haven't worshiped Baal." But think about what you do in Hinnom Valley. And you run back and forth like young camels, as you rush to worship one idol after another.


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You are a female donkey sniffing the desert air, wanting to mate with just anyone. You are an easy catch!


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Your shoes are worn out, and your throat is parched from running here and there to worship foreign gods. "Stop!" I shouted, but you replied, "No! I love those gods too much."


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You and your leaders are more disgraceful than thieves-- you and your kings, your priests and prophets


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worship stone idols and sacred poles as if they had created you and had given you life. You have rejected me, but when you're in trouble, you cry to me for help.


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Go cry to the gods you made! There should be enough of them to save you, because Judah has as many gods as it has towns.


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I tried punishing you, but you refused to come back to me, and like fierce lions you killed my prophets.


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Now listen to what I say! Did I abandon you in the desert or surround you with darkness? You are my people, yet you have told me, "We'll do what we want, and we refuse to worship you!"


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A bride could not forget to wear her jewelry to her wedding, but you have forgotten me day after day.


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You killed innocent people for no reason at all. And even though their blood can be seen on your clothes,


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you claim to be innocent, and you want me to stop being angry with you. So I'll take you to court, and we'll see who is right.


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The LORD said to the people of Israel: If a divorced woman marries, can her first husband ever marry her again? No, because this would pollute the land. But you have more gods than a prostitute has lovers. Why should I take you back?


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Just try to find one hilltop where you haven't gone to worship other gods by having sex. You sat beside the road like a robber in ambush, except you offered yourself to every passerby. Your sins of unfaithfulness have polluted the land.


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So I, the LORD, refused to let the spring rains fall. But just like a prostitute, you still have no shame for what you have done.


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When Josiah was king, the LORD said: Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute on the hilltops and in the shade of large trees.


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I knew that the kingdom of Israel had been unfaithful and committed many sins, yet I still hoped she might come back to me. But she didn't, so I divorced her and sent her away. Her sister, the kingdom of Judah, saw what happened, but she wasn't worried in the least, and I watched her become unfaithful like her sister.


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The kingdom of Judah wasn't sorry for being a prostitute, and she didn't care that she had made both herself and the land unclean by worshiping idols of stone and wood.


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Jeremiah, shout toward the north: Israel, I am your LORD-- come back to me! You were unfaithful and made me furious, but I am merciful, and so I will forgive you.


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You are unfaithful children, but you belong to me. Come home! I'll take one or two of you from each town and clan and bring you to Zion.


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You will increase in numbers, and there will be no need to remember the sacred chest or to make a new one.


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The whole city of Jerusalem will be my throne. All nations will come here to worship me, and they will no longer follow their stubborn, evil hearts.


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Then, in countries to the north, you people of Judah and Israel will be reunited, and you will return to the land I gave your ancestors.


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I have always wanted to treat you as my children and give you the best land, the most beautiful on earth. I wanted you to call me "Father" and not turn from me.


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But instead, you are like a wife who broke her wedding vows. You have been unfaithful to me. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Listen to the noise on the hilltops! It's the people of Israel, weeping and begging me to answer their prayers. They forgot about me and chose the wrong path.


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I will tell them, "Come back, and I will cure you of your unfaithfulness." They will answer, "We will come back, because you are the LORD our God.


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On hilltops, we worshiped idols and made loud noises, but it was all for nothing-- only you can save us.


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Since the days of our ancestors when our nation was young, that shameful god Baal has taken our crops and livestock, our sons and daughters.


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Make promises only in my name, and do what you promise! Then all nations will praise me, and I will bless them.


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People of Jerusalem and Judah, don't be so stubborn! Your hearts have become hard, like unplowed ground where thornbushes grow.


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With all your hearts, keep the agreement I made with you. But if you are stubborn and keep on sinning, my anger will burn like a fire that cannot be put out. *


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Head for Jerusalem or another walled town!' "Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending disaster from the north.


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An army will come out, like a lion from its den. It will destroy nations and leave your towns empty and in ruins."


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Then I said to the people of Israel, "Put on sackcloth! Mourn and cry out, 'The LORD is still angry with us.' "


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The LORD said, "When all this happens, the king and his officials, the prophets and the priests will be shocked and terrified."


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I said, "You are the LORD God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?"


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When disaster comes, the LORD will tell you people of Jerusalem, "I am sending a windstorm from the desert-- not a welcome breeze. And it will sweep you away as punishment for your sins.


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Look! The enemy army swoops down like an eagle; their cavalry and chariots race faster than storm clouds blown by the wind." Then you will answer, "We are doomed!"


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But Jerusalem, there is still time for you to be saved. Wash the evil from your hearts and stop making sinful plans,


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The LORD said, "Tell the nations that my people have rebelled against me. And so an army will come from far away to surround Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I can't stand the pain! My heart pounds, as I twist and turn in agony. I hear the signal trumpet and the battle cry of the enemy, and I cannot be silent.


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I see the enemy defeating us time after time, leaving everything in ruins. Even my own home is destroyed in a moment.


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I heard the LORD say, "My people ignore me. They are foolish children who do not understand that they will be punished. All they know is how to sin."


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After this, I looked around. The earth was barren, with no form of life. The sun, moon, and stars had disappeared.


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Farmland had become a desert, and towns were in ruins. The LORD's fierce anger had done all of this.


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The LORD said: I have made my decision, and I won't change my mind. This land will be destroyed, although not completely. The sky will turn dark, and the earth will mourn.


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Enemy cavalry and archers shout their battle cry. People run for their lives and try to find safety among trees and rocks. Every town is empty.


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Jerusalem, your land has been wiped out. But you act like a prostitute and try to win back your lovers, who now hate you. You can put on a red dress, gold jewelry, and eye shadow, but it's no use-- your lovers are out to kill you!


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I heard groaning and crying. Was it a woman giving birth to her first child? No, it was Jerusalem. She was gasping for breath and begging for help. "I'm dying!" she said. "They have murdered me."


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"Search Jerusalem for honest people who try to be faithful. If you can find even one, I'll forgive the whole city.


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I answered, "I know that you look for truth. You punished your people for their lies, but in spite of the pain, they became more stubborn and refused to turn back to you."


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Then I thought to myself, "These common people act like fools, and they have never learned what the LORD their God demands of them.


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I'll go and talk to the leaders. They know what God demands." But even they had decided not to obey the LORD.


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The people have rebelled and rejected the LORD too many times. So enemies will attack like lions from the forest or wolves from the desert. Those enemies will watch the towns of Judah, and like leopards they will tear to pieces whoever goes outside.


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People of Judah, how can I forgive you? I gave you everything, but you abandoned me and worshiped idols. You men go to prostitutes and are unfaithful to your wives.


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I will tell their enemies, "Go through my vineyard. Don't destroy the vines, but cut off the branches, because they are the people who don't belong to me."


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I am the LORD God All-Powerful. Jeremiah, I will tell you exactly what to say. Your words will be a fire; Israel and Judah will be the fuel.


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People of Israel, I have made my decision. An army from a distant country will attack you. I've chosen an ancient nation, and you won't understand their language.


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This nation will eat your crops and livestock; they will leave no fruit on your vines or trees. And although you feel safe behind thick walls, your towns will be destroyed and your children killed.


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And the people who survive will ask, "Why did the LORD our God do such terrible things to us?" Then tell them: I am the LORD, but you abandoned me and worshiped other gods in your own land. Now you will be slaves in a foreign country.


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that you should worship me with fear and trembling? I'm the one who made the shore to hold back the ocean. Waves may crash on the beach, but they can come no farther.


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You refuse to say, "Let's worship the LORD! He's the one who sends rain in spring and autumn and gives us a good harvest."


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A hunter traps birds and puts them in a cage, but some of you trap humans and make them your slaves.


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Prophets give their messages in the name of a false god, my priests don't want to serve me, and you--my own people-- like it this way! But on the day of disaster, where will you turn for help?


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Run for your lives, people of Benjamin. Get out of Jerusalem. Sound a trumpet in Tekoa and light a signal fire in Beth-Haccherem. Soon you will be struck by disaster from the north. *


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Kings will tell their troops, "If we reach Jerusalem in the morning, we'll attack at noon. But if we arrive later,


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I will command these armies to chop down trees and build a ramp up to the walls of Jerusalem. People of Jerusalem, I must punish you for your injustice.


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Evil pours from your city like water from a spring. Sounds of violent crimes echo within your walls; victims are everywhere, wounded and dying.


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Listen to me, you people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will abandon you, and your land will become an empty desert.


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I will tell your enemies to leave your nation bare like a vine stripped of grapes. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken.


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Your anger against Judah flames up inside me, and I can't hold it in much longer. Don't hold back my anger! Let it sweep away everyone-- the children at play and all adults, young and old alike.


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I'll punish the people of Judah and give to others their houses and fields, as well as their wives. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Everyone is greedy and dishonest, whether poor or rich. Even the prophets and priests cannot be trusted.


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They should be ashamed of their disgusting sins, but they don't even blush. And so, when I punish Judah, they will end up on the ground, dead like everyone else. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The LORD said: My people, when you stood at the crossroads, I told you, "Follow the road your ancestors took, and you will find peace." But you refused.


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I also sent prophets to warn you of danger, but when they sounded the alarm, you paid no attention. *


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My people ignored me and rejected my laws. They planned to do evil, and now the evil they planned will happen to them."


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People of Judah, you bring me incense from Sheba and spices from distant lands. You offer sacrifices of all kinds. But why bother? I hate these gifts of yours!


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So I will put stumbling blocks in your path, and everyone will die, including parents and children, neighbors and friends.


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Its well-armed troops are cruel and never show mercy. Their galloping horses sound like ocean waves pounding on the shore. This army will attack you, lovely Jerusalem."


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Then the people said, "Just hearing about them makes us tremble with fear, and we twist and turn in pain like a woman giving birth."


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The LORD said, "Don't work in your fields or walk along the roads. It's too dangerous. The enemy is well armed


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and attacks without warning. So mourn, my people, as though your only child had died. Wear clothes made of sackcloth and roll in the ash pile."


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And you'll find they are hard like bronze and iron. They are stubborn rebels, always spreading lies. *


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The LORD told me to stand by the gate of the temple and to tell the people who were going in that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country.


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Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshiping other gods.


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You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you.


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And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning?


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Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!


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Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh.


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And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.


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Children gather firewood, their fathers build fires, and their mothers mix dough to bake bread for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They even offer wine sacrifices to other gods, just to insult me.


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But they are not only insulting me; they are also insulting themselves by doing these shameful things.


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And now, I, the LORD All-Powerful, will flood Judah with my fiery anger until nothing is left--no people or animals, no trees or crops.


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The LORD told me to say to the people of Judah: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, but I won't accept sacrifices from you. So don't even bother bringing them to me. You might as well just cook the meat for yourselves.


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Instead, I told them, "If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you."


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But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other.


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So you must say to them: People of Judah, I am the LORD your God, but you have refused to obey me, and you didn't change when I punished you. And now, you no longer even pretend to be faithful to me.


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Shave your head bald and throw away the hair. Sing a funeral song on top of a barren hill. You people have made me angry, and I have abandoned you.


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You have disobeyed me by putting your disgusting idols in my temple, and now the temple itself is disgusting to me.


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At Topheth in Hinnom Valley you have built altars where you kill your children and burn them as sacrifices to other gods. I would never think of telling you to do this.


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So watch out! Someday that place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley, because you will bury your dead there until you run out of room,


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and then bodies will lie scattered on the ground. Birds and wild animals will come and eat, and no one will be around to scare them off.


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When I am finished with your land, there will be deathly silence in the empty ruins of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah--no happy voices, no sounds of parties or wedding celebrations.


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Then the bones of the dead kings of Judah and their officials will be dug up, along with the bones of the priests, the prophets, and everyone else in Jerusalem


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who loved and worshiped the sun, moon, and stars. These bones will be scattered and left lying on the ground like trash, where the sun and moon and stars can shine on them.


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Some of you people of Judah will be left alive, but I will force you to go to foreign countries, and you will wish you were dead. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, have spoken.


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The LORD said: People of Jerusalem, when you stumble and fall, you get back up, and if you take a wrong road, you turn around and go back.


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I listen carefully, but none of you admit that you've done wrong. Without a second thought, you run down the wrong road like cavalry troops charging into battle.


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Storks, doves, swallows, and thrushes all know when it's time to fly away for the winter and when to come back. But you, my people, don't know what I demand.


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You say, "We are wise because we have the teachings and laws of the LORD." But I say that your teachers have turned my words into lies!


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Your wise men have rejected what I say, and so they have no wisdom. Now they will be trapped and put to shame; they won't know what to do.


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I'll give their wives and fields to strangers. Everyone is greedy and dishonest, whether poor or rich. Even the prophets and priests cannot be trusted.


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They should be ashamed of their disgusting sins, but they don't even blush. And so, when I punish Judah, they will end up on the ground, dead like everyone else.


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I will wipe them out. They are vines without grapes; fig trees without figs or leaves. They have not done a thing that I told them! I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The people of Judah say to each other, "What are we waiting for? Let's run to a town with walls and die there. We rebelled against the LORD, and we were sentenced to die by drinking poison.


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Our enemies have reached the town of Dan in the north, and the snorting of their horses makes us tremble with fear. The enemy will destroy Jerusalem and our entire nation. No one will survive."


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In a foreign land my people are crying. Listen! You'll hear them say, "Has the LORD deserted Zion? Is he no longer its king?" I hear the LORD reply, "Why did you make me angry by worshiping useless idols?"


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I wish that my eyes were fountains of tears, so I could cry day and night for my people who were killed.


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I wish I could go into the desert and find a hiding place from all who are treacherous and unfaithful to God.


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The LORD replied: Lies come from the mouths of my people, like arrows from a bow. With each dishonest deed their power increases, and not one of them will admit that I am God.


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And so I will purify the hearts of my people just as gold is purified in a furnace. I have no other choice.


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They say they want peace, but this lie is deadly, like an arrow that strikes when you least expect it.


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I weep for the pastureland in the hill country. It's so barren and scorched that no one travels there. No cattle can be found there, and birds and wild animals have all disappeared.


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I heard the LORD reply, "When I am finished, Jerusalem and the towns of Judah will be piles of ruins where only jackals live."


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I said to the LORD, "None of us can understand why the land has become like an uncrossable desert. Won't you explain why?"


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The LORD said: I destroyed the land because the people disobeyed me and rejected my laws and teachings.


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I'll scatter them in foreign countries that they and their ancestors have never even heard of. Finally, I will send enemy soldiers to kill every last one of them.


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The LORD All-Powerful said, "Send for the women who are paid to weep at funerals, especially the women who can cry the loudest."


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The people answered, "Let them come quickly and cry for us, until our own eyes are flooded with tears.


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Now those of us on Zion cry, 'We are ruined! We can't stand the shame. Our homes have been destroyed, and we must leave our land.'


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"We ask you women to pay attention to what the LORD says. We will teach you a funeral song that you can teach your daughters and friends:


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'We were in our fortress, but death sneaked in through our windows. It even struck down children at play and our strongest young men.'


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"The LORD has told us the ground will be covered with dead bodies, like stalks of ungathered grain or like manure."


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If you feel you must brag, then have enough sense to brag about worshiping me, the LORD. What I like best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth.


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Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert. The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don't worship me. And it's the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged.


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Don't follow the customs of those nations who become frightened when they see something strange happen in the sky.


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An idol is no better than a scarecrow. It can't speak, and it has to be carried, because it can't walk. Why worship an idol that can't help or harm you?


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You are King of the nations. Everyone should worship you. No human anywhere on earth is wiser than you.


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Idols are made by humans. A carver shapes the wood. A metalworker hammers out a covering of gold from Uphaz or of silver from Tarshish. Then the idol is dressed in blue and purple clothes.


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You, LORD, are the only true and living God. You will rule for all time. When you are angry the earth shakes, and nations are destroyed.


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You told me to say that idols did not create the heavens and the earth, and that you, the LORD, will destroy every idol.


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The waters in the heavens roar at your command. You make clouds appear-- you send the winds from your storehouse and make lightning flash in the rain.


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People who make idols are so stupid! They will be disappointed, because their false gods are not alive.


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But you, Israel's God, created all things, and you chose Israel to be your very own. Your name is the LORD All-Powerful.


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The LORD said these troubles will lead to your capture, and he will throw you from this land like a rock from a sling."


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But I told them, "Our leaders were stupid failures, because they refused to listen to the LORD. And so we've been scattered like sheep.


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"Sounds of destruction rumble from the north like distant thunder. Soon our towns will be ruins where jackals live."


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Our enemies refuse to admit that you are God or to worship you. They have wiped out our people and left our nation lying in ruins. So get angry and sweep them away!


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The LORD God told me to say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: I, the LORD, am warning you that I will put a curse on anyone who doesn't keep the agreement I made with Israel. So pay attention to what it says.


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My commands haven't changed since I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, a nation that seemed like a blazing furnace where iron ore is melted. I told your ancestors that if they obeyed my commands, I would be their God, and they would be my people.


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Then I did what I had promised and gave them this wonderful land, where you now live. "Yes, LORD," I replied, "that's true."


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Then the LORD told me to say to everyone on the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah: Pay attention to the commands in my agreement with you.


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Ever since I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I have been telling your people to obey me. But you and your ancestors


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have always been stubborn. You have refused to listen, and instead you have done whatever your sinful hearts have desired. You have not kept the agreement we made, so I will make you suffer every curse that goes with it.


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They have sinned in the same way their ancestors did, by turning from me and worshiping other gods. The northern kingdom of Israel broke the agreement I made with your ancestors, and now the southern kingdom of Judah has done the same.


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Here is what I've decided to do. I will bring suffering on the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and no one will escape. They will beg me to help, but I won't listen to their prayers.


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Then they will offer sacrifices to their other gods and ask them for help. After all, the people of Judah have more gods than towns, and more altars for Baal than there are streets in Jerusalem. But those gods won't be able to rescue the people of Judah from disaster.


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Jeremiah, don't pray for these people or beg me to rescue them. If you do, I won't listen, and I certainly won't listen if they pray!


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Then the LORD told me to say to the people of Judah: You are my chosen people, but you have no right to be here in my temple, doing such terrible things. The sacrifices you offer me won't protect you from disaster, so stop celebrating.


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Once you were like an olive tree covered with fruit. But soon I will send a noisy mob to break off your branches and set you on fire.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful. You people of Judah were like a tree that I had planted, but you have made me angry by offering sacrifices to Baal, just as the northern kingdom did. And now I'm going to pull you up by the roots. *


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Some people plotted to kill me. And like a lamb being led to the butcher, I knew nothing about their plans.


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But then the LORD told me that they had planned to chop me down like a tree-- fruit and all-- so that no one would ever remember me again.


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I prayed, "LORD All-Powerful, you always do what is right, and you know every thought. So I trust you to help me and to take revenge."


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Then the LORD said: Jeremiah, some men from Anathoth say they will kill you, if you keep on speaking for me.


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But I will punish them. Their young men will die in battle, and their children will starve to death.


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Whenever I complain to you, LORD, you are always fair. But now I have questions about your justice. Why is life easy for sinners? Why are they successful?


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You plant them like trees; you let them prosper and produce fruit. Yet even when they praise you, they don't mean it.


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But you know, LORD, how faithful I've always been, even in my thoughts. So drag my enemies away and butcher them like sheep!


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How long will the ground be dry and the pasturelands parched? The birds and animals are dead and gone. And all of this happened because the people are so sinful. They even brag, "God can't see the sins we commit."


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Jeremiah, if you get tired in a race against people, how can you possibly run against horses? If you fall in open fields, what will happen in the forest along the Jordan River?


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Even your own family has turned against you. They act friendly, but don't trust them. They're out to get you, and so is everyone else.


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I loved my people and chose them as my very own. But now I will reject them and hand them over to their enemies.


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My people are like a hawk surrounded and attacked by other hawks. Tell the wild animals to come and eat their fill.


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My beautiful land is ruined like a field or a vineyard trampled by shepherds and stripped bare by their flocks.


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A destroying army marches along desert roads and attacks everywhere. They are my deadly sword; no one is safe from them.


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My people, you planted wheat, but because I was furious, I let only weeds grow. You wore yourselves out for nothing!


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The LORD said: I gave this land to my people Israel, but enemies around it have attacked and robbed it. So I will uproot them from their own countries just as I will uproot Judah from its land.


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They once taught my people to worship Baal. But if they admit I am the only true God, and if they let my people teach them how to worship me, these nations will also become my people.


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However, if they don't listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I went back and dug the shorts out of their hiding place, but the cloth had rotted, and the shorts were ruined.


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The people of Judah are evil and stubborn. So instead of listening to me, they do whatever they want and even worship other gods. When I am finished with these people, they will be good for nothing, just like this pair of shorts.


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These shorts were tight around your waist, and that's how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I wanted them to be my people. I wanted to make them famous, so that other nations would praise and honor me, but they refused to obey me.


