# verses

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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.


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For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:


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but this thing I commanded them, saying, 'Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'


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But they did not listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.


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Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:


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yet they did not listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers."


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"You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you.


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You shall tell them, 'This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.


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Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'"


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"For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight," says the Lord: "they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.


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They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.


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Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.


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The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.


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Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste."


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"At that time," says the Lord, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;


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and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth.


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Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them," says the Lord of hosts.


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"Moreover you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?


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Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.


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I listened and heard, but they did not speak what is right: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, "What have I done?" Everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.


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Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtledove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people do not know the Lord's law.


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How can you say, "We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?" But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.


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The wise men are disappointed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what kind of wisdom is in them?


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Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.


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They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace;" when there is no peace.


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Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the Lord.


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I will utterly consume them, says the Lord: no grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.'"


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"Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for the Lord our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.


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The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.


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For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you," says the Lord.


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Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: 'Isn't the Lord in Zion? Isn't her King in her?'" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign vanities?"


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Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?


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Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!


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Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men."


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"They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me," says the Lord.


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"Take heed everyone of his neighbor, and do not trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.


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They will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.


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Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how should I deal with the daughter of my people?


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Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait for him.


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Shall I not visit them for these things?" says the Lord; "shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"


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"For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the livestock; both the birds of the sky and the animals are fled, they are gone."


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"I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."


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"Who is the wise man, that may understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?"


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The Lord says, "Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,


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but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them;


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therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.


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I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.'"


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skillful women, that they may come:"


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"and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.


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For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.'"


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"Yet hear the word of the Lord, you women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbor lamentation.


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'For death has come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets.'


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Speak, 'Thus says the Lord, "The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester; and none shall gather them."'"


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Thus says the Lord, "Do not let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, do not let the rich man glory in his riches;


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but let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight," says the Lord.


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"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will punish all those who are circumcised in uncircumcision:


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Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."


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Thus says the Lord, "Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.


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For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.


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They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move.


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They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and do not speak: they must be carried, because they can't go. Do not be afraid of them; for they can't do evil, neither is it in them to do good."


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Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it appertains to you; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.


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There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.


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But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand his indignation.


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You shall say this to them: 'The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.'


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He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:


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when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.


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Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.


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The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name."


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For thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.'


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Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous: but I said, 'Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.'


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My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.


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For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of the Lord: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.


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The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.


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Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the families that do not call on your name: for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation."


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"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;


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and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: "Cursed is the man who doesn't hear the words of this covenant,


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which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, "Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so you shall be my people, and I will be your God;


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that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey," as at this day.'" Then I answered, and said, "Amen, Lord."


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The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.


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For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.


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Yet they did not obey, nor turn their ear, but walked everyone in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not do them.'"


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The Lord said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.


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Therefore thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will bring disaster on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to me, but I will not listen to them.


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Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.


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For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.'


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Therefore do not pray for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble."


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"What has my beloved to do in my house, since she has worked lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from you? When you do evil, then you rejoice.


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The Lord called your name, "A green olive tree, beautiful with goodly fruit." With the noise of a great tumult he has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken.


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For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have worked for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal."


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But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised devices against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered."


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"But, the Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I shall see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause."


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, "You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, that you not die by our hand;"


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therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;


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and there shall be no remnant to them: for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation."


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You are righteous, Lord, when I contend with you; yet I would reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously?


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You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.


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But you, Lord, know me; you see me, and try my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.


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How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, "He shall not see our latter end."


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"If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan?


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For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you: do not believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you.


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I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.


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My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest: she has uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.


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Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field, bring them to devour.


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Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.


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They have made it a desolation; it mourns to me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart.


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Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of the Lord devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh has peace.


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They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord against all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: 'behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.


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It shall happen, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.


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It shall happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, "As the Lord lives;" even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my people.


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But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it,'" says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord to me, "Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and do not put it in water."


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"Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock."


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It happened after many days, that the Lord said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there."


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Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was marred, it was profitable for nothing.


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This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing.


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For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so have I caused to cling to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,' says the Lord; 'that they might be my people, for a name, for praise, and for glory. But they would not listen.


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Therefore you shall speak to them this word: 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Every bottle shall be filled with wine:"' and they shall tell you, 'Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?'


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Then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.


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I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them."'"


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Give glory to the Lord your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness.


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But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is taken captive."


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"Say to the king and to the queen mother, 'Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory.


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The cities toward the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.'"


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"Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?


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What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?


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If you say in your heart, 'Why are these things come on me?' for the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts uncovered, and your heels suffer violence.


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Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.


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This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me,' says the Lord; 'because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.


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I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?'"


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"Judah mourns, and its gates languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.


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Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.


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Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed, they cover their heads.


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The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage."


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"Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name's sake, Lord; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.


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You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?


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Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can't save? Yet you, Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not leave us."


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Thus says the Lord to this people, "Even so have they loved to wander; they have not refrained their feet: therefore the Lord does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity, and visit their sins."


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When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence."


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Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets tell them, 'You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"


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Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I did not send them, yet they say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land:' 'By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.'


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The people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them-them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness on them."


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"You shall say this word to them, 'Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.


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If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.'"


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"Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!


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We acknowledge, Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you.


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Do not abhor us, for your name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of your glory: remember, do not break your covenant with us.


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Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren't you he, Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things."


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Then the Lord said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.


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It shall happen, when they tell you, 'Where shall we go forth?' Then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord: "Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.


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I will appoint over them four kinds, says the Lord: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.


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I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.


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For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan you? Or who will turn aside to ask of your welfare?


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'You have rejected me,' says the Lord, 'you have gone backward:' therefore have I stretched out my hand against you, and destroyed you; I am weary with repenting.


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I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them of children, I have destroyed my people; they did not return from their ways.


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Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas; I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.


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She who has borne seven languishes; she has given up the spirit; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she has been disappointed and confounded: and their residue will I deliver to the sword before their enemies," says the Lord.


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"Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet everyone of them curses me."


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The Lord said, "Most certainly I will strengthen you for good; most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of distress.


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Your substance and your treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.


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I will make them to pass with your enemies into a land which you do not know; for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn on you."


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"Lord, you know; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; do not take me away in your longsuffering: know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.


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Your words were found, and I ate them; and your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, Lord, God of Hosts.


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I did not sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand; for you have filled me with indignation.


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Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?"


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Therefore thus says the Lord, "If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.


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I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you," says the Lord.


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"I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible."


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For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who became their father in this land:


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They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.


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For thus says the Lord, 'Do not enter into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, even loving kindness and tender mercies.


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Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;


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neither shall men break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.


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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.


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It shall happen, when you shall show this people all these words, and they shall tell you, 'Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?'


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Then you shall tell them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;


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and you have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you do not listen to me:


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therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.'


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Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that it shall no more be said, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;'


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but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them.' I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.


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Behold, I will send for many fishermen," says the Lord, "and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.


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For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.


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First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations."


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"Lord, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, 'Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.


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"Therefore behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the Lord.


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"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars;


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My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a spoil, and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.


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You, even of yourself, shall discontinue from your heritage that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you do not know: for you have kindled a fire in my anger which shall burn forever."


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Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.


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For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.


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For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.


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I, the Lord, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.


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As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool."


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Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be disappointed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living waters.


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As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know: that which came out of my lips was before your face.


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Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed; let them be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of disaster, and destroy them with double destruction."


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Thus said the Lord to me: "Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;


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and tell them, 'Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:


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Thus says the Lord, "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;


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neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day holy, neither do any work: but make the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.


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But they did not listen, neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.


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It shall happen, if you diligently listen to me," says the Lord, "to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;


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then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.


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They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, to the house of the Lord.


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But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."'"


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When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.


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"'House of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter?' says the Lord. 'Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.'


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At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;


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if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.


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At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;


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if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.


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Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.'


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But they say, 'It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"


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Therefore thus says the Lord: "Ask now among the nations, who has heard such things; the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.


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Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? Shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?


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For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;


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to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.


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I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity."


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Then they said, "Come, and let us make plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."


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Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.


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Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men struck of the sword in battle.


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Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.


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Yet, Lord, you know all their counsel against me to kill me; do not forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight; but let them be overthrown before you; deal you with them in the time of your anger."


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Thus said the Lord, "Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;


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and go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you;


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and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.


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Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they did not know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,


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and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I did not command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:


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therefore, behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.


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I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.


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I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.


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I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them."'


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and shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.


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Thus will I do to this place," says the Lord, "and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth:


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and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"


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Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house, and said to all the people:


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"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.'"


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Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.


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Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.


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It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "The Lord has not called your name 'Pashhur,' but 'Magormissabib.'


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For thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.


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Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.


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You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'"


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Lord, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocks me.


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For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, "Violence and destruction!" because the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day.


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If I say, "I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name," then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I can't contain it.


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For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. "Denounce, and we will denounce him," say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; "perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him."


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But the Lord is with me as an awesome mighty one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.


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But, the Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.


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Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.


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Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, A boy is born to you; making him very glad.


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Let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;


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because he did not kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.


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Why came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?


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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,


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"Please inquire of the Lord for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us."


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'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.


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I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.


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I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.


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Afterward," says the Lord, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy."'


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To this people you shall say, "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.


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He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey.


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For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good,' says the Lord: 'it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.'


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'House of David, thus says the Lord, "Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


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Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain," says the Lord; "you that say, 'Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter into our habitations?'


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I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings," says the Lord; "and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her."'"


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Say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.


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Thus says the Lord: "Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.


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For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.


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But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation."


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For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.


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I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons; and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.


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Many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?'


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Then they shall answer, 'Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.'


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Do not weep for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country."


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For thus says the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: "He shall not return there any more.


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But in the place where they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more."


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Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor's service without wages, and doesn't give him his hire;


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who says, "I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms," and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.


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Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.


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He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me?' says the Lord.


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''But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah my brother! or, Ah sister!' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah lord!' or, 'Ah his glory!'


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Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers are destroyed.


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I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, 'I will not hear.' This has been your way from your youth, that you did not obey my voice.


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The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.


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Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!


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As I live," says the Lord, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you there;


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and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.


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I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die.


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Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which none delights? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they do not know?


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Thus says the Lord, "Write this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.


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Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people: "You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings," says the Lord.


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"I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.


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I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking," says the Lord.


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"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.


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In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: 'The Lord our righteousness.'


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Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that they shall no more say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt';


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but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.' They shall dwell in their own land."'


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Concerning the prophets: My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.


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For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. "Their course is evil, and their might is not right;


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for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness," says the Lord.


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"Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation," says the Lord.


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"I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.


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In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.


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Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.'


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.


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They say continually to those who despise me, "The Lord has said, 'You shall have peace'"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, "No evil shall come on you."


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For who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it?


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Behold, the storm of the Lord, his wrath, has gone forth. Yes, a whirling storm. It shall burst on the head of the wicked.


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The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly.


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But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.


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Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?' says the Lord. 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord.


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'I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed."


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How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart,


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who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.


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The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?' says the Lord.


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Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,' says the Lord, 'who steal my words everyone from his neighbor.


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Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,' says the Lord, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I did not send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all,' says the Lord.


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'When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, "What is the burden of the Lord?" Then you shall tell them, "What burden! I will cast you off," says the Lord.


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As for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, "The burden of the Lord," I will even punish that man and his house.


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You shall say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, "What has the Lord answered?" and, "What has the Lord spoken?"


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You shall mention the burden of the Lord no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.


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But if you say, "The burden of the Lord"; therefore thus says the Lord: Because you say this word, "The burden of the Lord," and I have sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of the Lord'";


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therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence:


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and I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"


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The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the Lord's temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.


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One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.


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Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad."


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"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.


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For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.


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I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart.'


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As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says the Lord, 'So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,


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I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.


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I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"


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The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),


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which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:


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"From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.


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The Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear)


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saying, 'Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forevermore;


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and do not go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm.


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Yet you have not listened to me,' says the Lord; 'that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.'


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behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the Lord, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.


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Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.


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This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.


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It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.


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I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.


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For many nations and great kings shall make bondservants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'"


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For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to me: "Take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.


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They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them."


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Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom the Lord had sent me:


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Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;


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and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;


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and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;


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and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.


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"You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you."'


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It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "You shall surely drink.


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For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,"' says the Lord of hosts.


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Therefore prophesy you against them all these words, and tell them, 'The Lord will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.


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A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,' says the Lord.


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'Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.'


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The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.


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Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in dust, you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.


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A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! For the Lord lays waste their pasture.


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He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger."


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In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying,


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"Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not diminish a word.


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It may be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may relent of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.


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You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,


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to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened;


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then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.'"


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The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.


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It happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, "You shall surely die.


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Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?'" All the people were gathered to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.


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When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house.


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Then spoke the priests and the prophets to the princes and to all the people, saying, "This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears."


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Then spoke Jeremiah to all the princes and to all the people, saying, "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.


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Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.


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Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for of a truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."


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Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: "This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."


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Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,


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"Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."'


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Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord, and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.


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"There was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:


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and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt:


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and Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt;


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and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people."


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But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.


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In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,


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and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah;


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and give them a command to their masters, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, You shall tell your masters:


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"I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.


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Now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the animals of the field also have I given him to serve him.


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All the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondservant.


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It shall happen, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.


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But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon':


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for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.


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But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, says the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein."'"


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I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.


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Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?


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Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon'; for they prophesy a lie to you.


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'For I have not sent them,' says the Lord, 'but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.'"


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Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.


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Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: why should this city become a desolation?'


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But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.


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For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,


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which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;


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yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:


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'They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them,' says the Lord; 'then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.'"


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It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,


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"Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.


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Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon:


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and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,' says the Lord; 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"


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Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord,


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even the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen: Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.


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The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.


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The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord has truly sent him."


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Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations.'" The prophet Jeremiah went his way.


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Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,


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"Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: You have broken the bars of wood; but you have made in their place bars of iron.


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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also."'"


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Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Hear now, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie.


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Therefore thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.'"


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Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,


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(after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem),


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by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying,


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"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:


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Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and do not be diminished.


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Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you shall have peace.'


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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Do not let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.


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"For thus says the Lord, 'After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.


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For I know the plans that I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for your welfare, and not for calamity, to give you hope and a future.


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I will be found by you,' says the Lord, 'and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you,' says the Lord; 'and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.'


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thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth with you into captivity;


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thus says the Lord of hosts; 'Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.


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I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;


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because they have not listened to my words,' says the Lord, 'with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,' says the Lord.


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'Hear therefore the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.'


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"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: 'Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes;


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and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "The Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire";


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because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness,' says the Lord."


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'Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, "Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,


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'The Lord has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.


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because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, "The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit?"'"'


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"Send to all them of the captivity, saying, 'Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;


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therefore," thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says the Lord, because he has spoken rebellion against the Lord."'"


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"Thus speaks the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, 'Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.


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For, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,' says the Lord; 'and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"


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Ask now, and see whether a man does travail with child: why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?


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Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.


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It shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord of hosts, "that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondservant;


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Therefore do not be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says the Lord; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.


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For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished."


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All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.


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Why do you cry for your hurt? Your pain is incurable: for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.


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Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.


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For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds," says the Lord; "because they have called you an outcast, saying, 'It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.'"


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Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited in its own way.


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Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.


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Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them.


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Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from their midst; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me: for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me? says the Lord.


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Behold, the storm of the Lord, his wrath, has gone forth, a sweeping storm: it shall burst on the head of the wicked.


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The fierce anger of the Lord will not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.


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"At that time," says the Lord, "will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."


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Thus says the Lord, "The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.


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The Lord appeared of old to me, saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.


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Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.


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Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy its fruit.


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For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, "Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God."'"


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For thus says the Lord, "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, 'Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.'


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'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.


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They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.'"


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Hear the word of the Lord, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock."


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They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of the Lord, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.


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"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.


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I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness," says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."


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Thus says the Lord: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded," says the Lord; "and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.


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There is hope for your latter end," says the Lord; "and your children shall come again to their own border.


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I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God.


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Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.'


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Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him," says the Lord.


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"Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.


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How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: 'The Lord bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.'


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Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.


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"Behold, the days come, " says the Lord, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.


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It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant," says the Lord.


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"In those days they shall say no more, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'


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But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.


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Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:


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not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them," says the Lord.


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"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:


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and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord'; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest," says the Lord: "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."


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Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is his name:


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"If these ordinances depart from before me," says the Lord, "then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever."


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Thus says the Lord: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done," says the Lord.


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"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.


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The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.


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The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever."


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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.


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Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.


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For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;


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and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes;


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and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall be there until I visit him," says the Lord: "though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper?"'"


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'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, "Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it."'


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So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, "Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.


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I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.


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I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.


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So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open;


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and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.


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'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days."'


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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land.'


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Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying,


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'Ah, Lord God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,


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who show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name;


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great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:


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who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as in this day;


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and brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;


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and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;


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and they came in, and possessed it, but they did not obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them.


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Behold, the mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it.


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You have said to me, Lord God, "Buy the field for money, and call witnesses"; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.'"


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Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:


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and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.


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For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the Lord.


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For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,


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because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.


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They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'


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"Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence':


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'Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:


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and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:


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and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.


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Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.'


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"For thus says the Lord: 'Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them.


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Fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, "It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans."


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Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev: for I will cause their captivity to return,' says the Lord."


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Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,


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'Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you do not know.'


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For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword;


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while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city:


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'Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.


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I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.


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I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.


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This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.'


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"Thus says the Lord: 'Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, "It is waste, without man and without animal," even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,


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the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; who bring thanksgiving into the house of the Lord." For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.


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In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them,' says the Lord.


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'Behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.


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In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.


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In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: "The Lord our righteousness."


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neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually."'"


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"Thus says the Lord: 'If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;


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then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.


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As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.'"


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"Do not consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'The two families which the Lord chose, he has cast them off?' Thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.


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Thus says the Lord: 'If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;


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then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.'"


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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:


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"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:


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and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.'


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Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says the Lord concerning you, 'You shall not die by the sword;


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you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, saying, "Ah Lord!" for I have spoken the word,' says the Lord."'"


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when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.


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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;


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that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.


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All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that none should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:


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but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.


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"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,


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"At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you": but your fathers did not listen to me, neither inclined their ear.


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You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:


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but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: "You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.


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I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;


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the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;


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I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.


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Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have gone away from you.


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Behold, I will command, says the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."'"


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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,


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"Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink."


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Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;


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and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.


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I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine!"


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But they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:


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neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live.'


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We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;


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but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.


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But it happened, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, 'Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians'; so we dwell at Jerusalem."


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"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?" says the Lord.


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"The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.


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I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers': but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.


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Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me;


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therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'"'"


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Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you';


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therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.'"


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It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,


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"Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.


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It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."


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Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.


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therefore you go, and read in the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house on the fast day; and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.


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It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return everyone from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people."


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Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.


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Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before the Lord.


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Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the ears of all the people.


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When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,


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he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.


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Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.


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Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, "Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come." So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.


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Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, "We will surely tell the king of all these words."


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Then Baruch answered them, "He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book."


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They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king.


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So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.


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Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.


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It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.


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They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.


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Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not hear them.


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The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the Lord hid them.


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Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,


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"Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.


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Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, 'Thus says the Lord: "You have burned this scroll, saying, 'Why have you written therein, saying, "The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and animal?"'"


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.


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I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they did not listen."'"


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Then took Jeremiah another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides to them many like words.


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Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.


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But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.


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Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Pray now to the Lord our God for us."


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Pharaoh's army had come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.


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"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.


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The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire."


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Thus says the Lord, "Do not deceive yourselves, saying, 'The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us'; for they shall not depart.


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For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire."'"


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It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,


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then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people.


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When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are falling away to the Chaldeans."


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Then Jeremiah said, "It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans." But he did not listen to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.


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The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.


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When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;


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Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, "Is there any word from the Lord?" Jeremiah said, "There is." He said also, "You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."


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Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, "Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?


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Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?


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Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there."


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Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.


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Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,


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"Thus says the Lord, 'He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.'


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Thus says the Lord, 'This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.'"


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Then the princes said to the king, "Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn't seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt."


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Zedekiah the king said, "Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you."


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Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.


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Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),


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"My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city."


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Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies."


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So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.


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Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords." Jeremiah did so.


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So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.


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Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremiah, "I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me."


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Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me."


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So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, "As the Lord lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life."


text:
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'If you will go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.


text:
But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.'"


text:
Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me."


text:
But Jeremiah said, "They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of the Lord, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.


text:
behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, 'Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away back.'


text:
They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire."


text:
But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, 'Declare to us now what you have said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you':


text:
then you shall tell them, 'I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.'"


text:
Then came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.


text:
It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;


text:
in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city),


text:
that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.


text:
It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.


text:
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.


text:
Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah.


text:
The Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.


text:
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained.


text:
But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.


text:
Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying,


text:
So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon;


text:
they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.


text:
"Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring my words on this city for disaster, and not for prosperity; and they shall be fulfilled before you in that day.


text:
But I will deliver you in that day, says the Lord; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.


text:
For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life will be given to you as a reward; because you have put your trust in me,"' says the Lord."


text:
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.


text:
The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, "The Lord your God pronounced this evil on this place;


text:
and the Lord has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you.


text:
Now, behold, I release you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, do not: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go."


text:
Now while he had not yet gone back, "Go back then," he said, "to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go." So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.


text:
Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.


text:
Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;


text:
then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.


text:
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.


text:
As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken."


text:
Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;


text:
then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.


text:
Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,


text:
and said to him, "Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.


text:
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, "Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?"


text:
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael."


text:
Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.


text:
Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.


text:
Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.


text:
that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord.


text:
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it happened, as he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam."


text:
It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.


text:
But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped, and did not kill them among their brothers.


text:
Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.


text:
Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.


text:
But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,


text:
then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.


text:
Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.


text:
So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.


text:
But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.


text:
Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:


text:
because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.


text:
Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,


text:
and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us:


text:
that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do."


text:
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you."


text:
Then they said to Jeremiah, "The Lord be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not do according to all the word with which the Lord your God shall send you to us.


text:
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."


text:
Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,


text:
and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him:


text:
'If you will still live in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.


text:
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him, says the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.


text:
But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land'; so that you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God,


text:
saying, 'No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell':


text:
now therefore hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;


text:
then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.


text:
So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.'


text:
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'As my anger and my wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.'


text:
The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, 'Do not go into Egypt': know certainly that I have testified to you this day.


text:
For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the Lord our God; and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it':


text:
and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.


text:
Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live there."


text:
It happened that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, even all these words,


text:
then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, "You speak falsely. The Lord our God has not sent you to say, 'You shall not go into Egypt to live there';


text:
but Baruch the son of Neriah sets you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon."


text:
So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah.


text:
But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah;


text:
the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah;


text:
and they came into the land of Egypt; for they did not obey the voice of the Lord: and they came to Tahpanhes.


text:
"Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;


text:
and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.


text:
He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.


text:
I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he shall go forth from there in peace.


text:
He shall also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire."'"


text:
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,


text:
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,


text:
because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods, that they did not know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.


text:
However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate.'


text:
But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.


text:
Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.'


text:
Therefore now thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the midst of Judah, to leave yourselves none remaining;


text:
in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?


text:
Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?


text:
They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.'


text:
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.


text:
I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they shall all be consumed; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.


text:
For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;


text:
so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape.'"


text:
Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,


text:
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.


text:
But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.


text:
When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?"


text:
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying,


text:
"The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land. Did not the Lord remember them, and did not it come into his mind,


text:
so that the Lord could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed? Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.


text:
Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is this day."


text:
Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, "Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:


text:
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 'You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, "We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her": establish then your vows, and perform your vows.'


text:
Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by my great name,' says the Lord, 'that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "As the Lord God lives."


text:
Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone.


text:
Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.


text:
This shall be the sign to you,' says the Lord, 'that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil':


text:
Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.'"


text:
The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,


text:
'You said, "Woe is me now! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest."'"


text:
"You shall tell him, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.


text:
Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for, behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh, says the Lord; but your life will I give to you for a reward in all places where you go."'"


text:
Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.


text:
Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.


text:
Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled in haste, and do not look back: terror is on every side," says the Lord.


text:
"Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.


text:
Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, 'I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.'


text:
Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.


text:
For that day is of the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.


text:
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.


text:
The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together."


text:
The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.


text:
"Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, 'Stand forth, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.'


text:
He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, 'Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.'


text:
"As I live," says the King, "whose name is the Lord of hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.


text:
You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.


text:
Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they did not stand: for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation.


text:
The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.


text:
They shall cut down her forest, says the Lord, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.


text:
The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north."


text:
"The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:


text:
and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old,' says the Lord.


text:
'But do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.


text:
Do not be afraid, O Jacob my servant,' says the Lord; 'for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.'"


text:
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza.


text:
"Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.


text:
At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers do not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;


text:
because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains: for the Lord will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.


text:
Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself?


text:
You sword of the Lord, "how long will it be before you be quiet? Put up yourself into your scabbard; rest, and be still."


text:
How can you be quiet, since the Lord has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.'"


text:
Of Moab. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is disappointed, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down.


text:
The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: "Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation." You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.


text:
For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.


text:
For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.


text:
The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as the Lord has spoken.


text:
Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.'


text:
Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.


text:
'Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.


text:
Therefore behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.


text:
Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter,' says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.


text:
All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, "How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!"


text:
You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.


text:
Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, "What has been done?"


text:
"Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste."


text:
'Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against the Lord: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.


text:
For wasn't Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head.


text:
You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.


text:
We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.


text:
Therefore will I wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir Heres shall they mourn.


text:
With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.


text:
Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.


text:
From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.


text:
Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,' says the Lord, 'him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.


text:
Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.


text:
For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth.


text:
On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights,' says the Lord.


text:
How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.'


text:
For thus says the Lord: 'Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.


text:
Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.


text:
He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,' says the Lord.


text:
'Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.


text:
Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.


text:
Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days,' says the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab."


text:
Of the children of Ammon. "Thus says the Lord: 'Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?


text:
Therefore behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the Lord.


text:
'Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.


text:
Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"


text:
Behold, I will bring a fear on you,' says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.


text:
Of Edom. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?


text:
Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.


text:
If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?


text:
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.


text:
For thus says the Lord: 'Behold, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.


text:
For I have sworn by myself,' says the Lord, 'that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.'"


text:
I have heard news from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle."


text:
As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the Lord.


text:
"Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.


text:
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.


text:
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me?


text:
Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.


text:
The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.


text:
Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."


text:
Of Damascus. "Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.


text:
Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.


text:
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord of hosts.


text:
Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. "Thus says the Lord: 'Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.'


text:
Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, 'Terror on every side!'


text:
Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor," says the Lord; "for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you."


text:
"Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says the Lord; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.


text:
Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them," says the Lord.


text:
"Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."


text:
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,


text:
On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.


text:
I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,' says the Lord; 'and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;


text:
'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the Lord."


text:
The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.


text:
"Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and do not conceal: say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed.


text:
For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.


text:
In those days, and in that time,' says the Lord, 'the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek the Lord their God.


text:
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, "Come, and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten."


text:
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.


text:
All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, "We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of righteousness, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers."


text:
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.


text:
For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.


text:
Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;


text:
your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.


text:
Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.


text:
"Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the Lord.


text:
Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her towers are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.


text:
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land."'


text:
'Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.


text:
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.


text:
I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.


text:
In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant."'"


text:
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them," says the Lord, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.


text:
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!


text:
I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against the Lord.


text:
The Lord has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.


text:
Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.


text:
Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation."


text:
The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.


text:
"Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.


text:
Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord.


text:
"Behold, I am against you, you proud one," says the Lord, the Lord of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.


text:
The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him."


text:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.


text:
Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.


text:
A sword is on the Chaldeans," says the Lord, "and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.


text:
A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.


text:
A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.


text:
A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they glory over idols.


text:
Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.


text:
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."


text:
"Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.


text:
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.


text:
The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor.


text:
Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who can stand before me?"


text:
Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: "Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.


text:
Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.


text:
I will send to Babylon foreigners who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.


text:
Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.


text:
"For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.


text:
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; do not be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.


text:
Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.


text:
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.


text:
'We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.'


text:
'The Lord has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.'


text:
Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.


text:
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.


text:
You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.


text:
The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, "Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you."


text:
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.


text:
When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.


text:
Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.


text:
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and is the tribe of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.


text:
"You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;


text:
and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;


text:
and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.


text:
I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight," says the Lord.


text:
"Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain," says the Lord, "which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.


text:
They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever," says the Lord.


text:
Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.


text:
Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.


text:
The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of the Lord against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.


text:
The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.


text:
One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:


text:
and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.


text:
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.


text:
'Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.


text:
The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,' shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, 'My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,' shall Jerusalem say.


text:
Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.


text:
Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.


text:
When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake," says the Lord.


text:
How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!


text:
Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.


text:
I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall."


text:
"My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of the Lord.


text:
Do not let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.


text:
Therefore behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.


text:
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north," says the Lord.


text:
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.


text:
You who have escaped the sword, go, do not stand still; remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.


text:
"We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house."


text:
"Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.


text:
Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her," says the Lord.


text:
For the Lord lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:


text:
for the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for the Lord is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.


text:
"I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up," says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.


text:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary."


text:
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.


text:
Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.


text:
and say, 'Lord, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.'


text:
It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:


text:
and you shall say, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary.'" Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.


text:
For through the anger of the Lord it happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.


text:
It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.


text:
In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.


text:
Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were against the city all around;) and they went toward the Arabah.


text:
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.


text:
Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.


text:
The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.


text:
He put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.


text:
Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem:


text:
and he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire.


text:
All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.


text:
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.


text:
But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers.


text:
The Chaldeans broke the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.


text:
They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered.


text:
The captain of the guard took away the cups, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the bowls; that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.


text:
They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of the Lord. The brass of all these vessels was without weight.


text:
As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow.


text:
A capital of brass was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like these, and pomegranates.


text:
There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around.


text:
and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.


text:
This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand twenty-three Jews;


text:
in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons;


text:
in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.


text:
It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;


text:
and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.


text:
ALEPHHow the city sits solitary, that was full of people!She has become as a widow, who was great among the nations!She who was a princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer!BET


text:
She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;among all her lovers she has none to comfort her.All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.GIMEL


text:
Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and harsh servitude;she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest:all her persecutors overtook her in the midst of her distress.DALET


text:
The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to the solemn assembly;all her gates are desolate, her priests groan:her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.HEY


text:
Her adversaries have become the head, her enemies prosper;for the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions:her young children have gone into captivity before the adversary.VAV


text:
All majesty has departed from the daughter of Zion:her leaders have become like deer that find no pasture,they fled exhausted before the pursuer.ZAYIN


text:
Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all her precious things that were from the days of old:when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and no one helped her.The adversaries saw her, they mocked at her desolations.HET


text:
Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she has become as an unclean thing;all who honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness:yes, she groans, and turns away.TET


text:
Her filthiness was in her skirts; she did not remember her latter end;therefore her fall was astonishing; she has no comforter."Look, Lord, on my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself."YOD


text:
The adversary has spread out his hand on all her precious things:for she has seen that the nations have entered into her sanctuary,concerning whom you commanded that they should not enter into your assembly.KAPH


text:
All her people sigh, they seek bread;they have given their precious things for food to refresh the soul."Look, Lord, and see, for I am despised."LAMED


text:
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?Look, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which is brought on me,with which the Lord has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.MEM


text:
From on high he has sent fire into my bones, and it overcame them.He has spread a net for my feet, he has turned me back.He has made me desolate and faint all the day.NUN


text:
My transgressions are bound into a yoke; by his handthey are fastened together, they are set upon my neck; he has made my strength to fail.The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.SAMEKH


text:
The Lord has rejected all my mighty men in my midst;he has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men.The Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.AYIN


text:
For these things I weep; my eyes, my eyes flow with tears;because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me.My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.PEY


text:
Zion spreads forth her hands; there is none to comfort her.The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob, that those who are around him should be his adversaries.Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.TZADE


text:
The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment.Please listen all you people, and see my suffering.My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.QOPH


text:
I called for my lovers, but they deceived me.My priests and my elders perished in the city,while they searched for food to refresh their souls.RESH


text:
See, Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns;my heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled.Outside the sword bereaves, inside there is death.SHIN


text:
They have heard that I groan; there is none to comfort me.All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it.Bring the day that you have proclaimed, so that they shall end up like me.TAV


text:
Let all their wickedness come before you.Do to them, as you have done to me for all my transgressions.For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.


text:
ALEPHHow the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!He has cast down from heaven to the earth the splendor of Israel,and hasn't remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.BET


text:
The Lord has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and has not pitied.He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah.He has brought them down to the ground; he has humiliated the kingdom and its princes.GIMEL


text:
He has cut off in fierce anger all the strength of Israel.He has drawn back his right hand before the enemy.He has blazed in Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.DALET


text:
He has bent his bow like an enemy; his right hand he has positioned like an adversary.He killed all that were pleasant to the eye.In the tent of the daughter of Zion he has poured out his wrath like fire.HEY


text:
The Lord has become as an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel;he has swallowed up all her palaces and has destroyed its strongholds.He has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.VAV


text:
He has done violence to his temple, as if it were a garden; he has destroyed his place of assembly.The Lord has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion.He has spurned in his fierce anger the king and the priest.ZAYIN


text:
The Lord has rejected his altar, he has disowned his sanctuary, andhas given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces.They have made a shout in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn assembly.HET


text:
The Lord has determined to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion.He has stretched out the line, he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying.He has made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.TET


text:
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars.Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is no more, andher prophets find no vision from the Lord.YOD


text:
The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence.They have cast up dust on their heads; they have clothed themselves with sackcloth.The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.KAPH


text:
My eyes are worn out from weeping, my stomach is churning.My heart is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,because the young children and the infants faint in the streets of the city.LAMED


text:
They tell their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?"When they faint as the wounded in the streets of the city,as their lives fade away in their mothers' bosom.MEM


text:
What shall I testify of you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem?What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?For your ruin is great like the sea. Who can heal you?NUN


text:
Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions.They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captivity,but have seen for you false and misleading oracles.SAMEKH


text:
All that pass by clap their hands at you,they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,"Is this the city that men called 'The perfection of beauty,' 'The joy of the whole earth'?"AYIN


text:
All your enemies have opened wide their mouth against you.They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, "We have swallowed her up.Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it."PEY


text:
The Lord has done that which he purposed, he has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old.He has thrown down, and has not pitied.He has caused the enemy to gloat over you and exalted the horn of your adversaries.TZADE


text:
Their heart cried to the Lord.O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night.Give yourself no respite; do not let your tears cease.QOPH


text:
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches.Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.RESH


text:
Look, Lord, and see to whom you have done like this!Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands?Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?SHIN


text:
The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets;my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword.You have killed them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered, without pity.TAV


text:
You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side.There was none that escaped or remained in the day of the Lord's anger.Those that I have borne and brought up has my enemy destroyed.


text:
For though he may cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the abundance of his loving kindness.


text:
ALEPHHow the gold has become dim! How the most pure gold has changed!The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.BET


text:
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold,How they are regarded as clay jars, the work of the hands of the potter!GIMEL


text:
Even the jackals offer the breast, they nurse their young ones, butthe daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.DALET


text:
The nursing infant's tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth for thirst.The young children ask for bread, but no one gives to them.HEY


text:
Those who ate delicacies are destitute in the streets.Those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.VAV


text:
For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom,which was overthrown in an instant, and no hands were laid on her.ZAYIN


text:
Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodiesmore ruddy than rubies, their appearance was like lapis lazuli.HET


text:
They appear darker than soot; they are not known in the streets.Their skin cleaves to their bones; it is withered and has become as dry as a stick.TET


text:
Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger;those who waste away, pierced through, for lack of the fruits of the field.YOD


text:
The hands of the compassionate women have cooked their own children;they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.KAPH


text:
The Lord has accomplished his wrath, he has poured out his fierce anger;he has kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations.LAMED


text:
The kings of the earth did not believe, neither all the inhabitants of the world,that the adversary or the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.MEM


text:
It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests,that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.NUN


text:
They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood,so that men can't touch their garments.SAMEKH


text:
"Turn away!" they cried to them, "Unclean! depart, depart, do not touch!"When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, "They shall not live here anymore."PEY


text:
The Lord himself has scattered them; he will no more regard them.They did not respect the priests, they did not favor the elders.AYIN


text:
Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help.In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.TZADE


text:
They hunt our steps, so that we can't go in our streets.Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end has come.QOPH


text:
Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky.They chased us on the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.RESH


text:
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits;of whom we said, "Under his shadow we can live among the nations."SHIN


text:
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwell in the land of Uz.The cup shall pass through to you also; you will get drunk, and shall make yourself naked.TAV


text:
The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion; he will no more carry you away into captivity.He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.


text:
Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.


text:
the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there on him.


text:
I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.


text:
Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.


text:
Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass.


text:
They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings thus:


text:
their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; each one went straight forward.


text:
As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle.


text:
Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies.


text:
Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn't turn when they went.


text:
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.


text:
Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.


text:
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.


text:
As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around.


text:
When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.


text:
Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.


text:
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.


text:
Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above.


text:
Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.


text:
When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings.


text:
There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.


text:
Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above.


text:
I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.


text:
As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.


text:
The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.


text:
He said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.


text:
The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I am sending you to them; and you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God.'


text:
They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.


text:
You, son of man, do not be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: do not be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.


text:
You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.


text:
But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you."


text:
He spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.


text:
He said to me, "Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."


text:
He said to me, "Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you." Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.


text:
For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;


text:
not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.


text:
But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.


text:
Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.


text:
As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: do not be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house."


text:
Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.


text:
Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God'; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.


text:
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place."


text:
I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.


text:
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the anger of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.


text:
Then I came to them of the exiles at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.


text:
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.


text:
When I tell the wicked, 'You shall surely die'; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.


text:
Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn't turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.


text:
"Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.


text:
Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul."


text:
The hand of the Lord was there on me; and he said to me, "Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you."


text:
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.


text:
Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, "Go, shut yourself inside your house.


text:
But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:


text:
and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.


text:
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God': He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.


text:
"You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:


text:
and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.


text:
Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.


text:
"Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.


text:
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.


text:
"Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you.


text:
You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it.


text:
Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.


text:
"Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, you shall eat of it.


text:
Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time you shall eat it.


text:
You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man."


text:
The Lord said, "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them."


text:
Then I said, "Ah Lord God! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth."


text:
Then he said to me, "Behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon."


text:
Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:


text:
that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.


text:
"You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.


text:
A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.


text:
Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel."


text:
"Thus says the Lord God: 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are around her.


text:
She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.'


text:
"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you';


text:
therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.


text:
I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations.


text:
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.'


text:
"'Therefore as I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.


text:
A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.


text:
Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.


text:
Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.


text:
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, the Lord, have spoken it;)


text:
when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread;


text:
and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, the Lord, have spoken it.'"


text:
and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: "Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.


text:
Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.


text:
I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars.


text:
In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.


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"'"Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries.


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Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.


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They shall know that I am the Lord: I have not said in vain that I would bring this disaster on them."'"


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas!" because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.


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He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them.


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You shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols.


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I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord."'"


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"You, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, 'An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land.


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Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.


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My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"


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Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains.


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Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.


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My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, the Lord, do strike.


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Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.'


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"Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among them.


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The time has come, the day draws near: do not let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.


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For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.


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They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude.


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The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.


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But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.


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They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.


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They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.


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As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.


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I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.


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My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.


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Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.


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Disaster shall come upon disaster, and rumor shall follow rumor; and they shall seek a vision from a prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.


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The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord."


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It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there on me.


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Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.


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He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.


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Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.


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Then he said to me, "Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north." So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.


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He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations."


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Then he said to me, "Son of man, dig now in the wall": and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.


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So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.


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There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.


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Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, 'The Lord doesn't see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.'"


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Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.


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Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these."


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He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and see, at the door of the Lord's temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the Lord's temple, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.


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Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.


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Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."


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Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand."


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Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.


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The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.


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The Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst."


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To the others he said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him, and strike: do not let your eye spare, neither have pity;


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kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but do not come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary." Then they began at the old men that were before the house.


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He said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!" They went forth, and struck in the city.


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It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, "Ah Lord God! Will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?"


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Then he said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, 'The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord doesn't see.'


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As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head."


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Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, "I have done as you have commanded me."


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Then I looked, and saw, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.


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He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, "Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." He went in as I watched.


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Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.


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The glory of the Lord mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory.


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The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.


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It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," that he went in, and stood beside a wheel.


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The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.


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I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.


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When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn't turn as they went.


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Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had.


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Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.


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When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them.


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When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.


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The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.


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These were the living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.


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Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.


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As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.


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Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the Lord's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.


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He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;


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The Spirit of the Lord fell on me, and he said to me, "Speak, Thus says the Lord: 'Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this is the caldron; but you shall be brought out of its midst.


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'I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.


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You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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This shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel;


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and you shall know that I am the Lord: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.'"


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It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"


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"Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for a possession.'


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Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come."'


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Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."


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They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there.


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I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;


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that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.


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But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,' says the Lord God."


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Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.


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The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city.


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The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.


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"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and do not see, who have ears to hear, and do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.


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Therefore, you son of man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight; and you shall move from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.


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You shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for moving; and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.


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In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you do not see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel."


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I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.


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Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.'


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Say, 'I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.'


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"The prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.


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My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.


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I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.


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They shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.


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But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord."


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and tell the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.


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The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"


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"Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?'


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Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel'; but tell them, 'The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.


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For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it,' says the Lord God."


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"Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.'


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Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord God.'"


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"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the Lord:


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Thus says the Lord God, "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!


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You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord."


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They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, "The Lord says"; but the Lord has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.


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"Haven't you seen a false vision, and haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, "The Lord says"; but I have not spoken?


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.


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My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.


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Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, 'Peace'; and there is no peace; and when one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash:


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tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it.


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Behold, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, 'Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?'


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"'"Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.


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So will I break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst: and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it with whitewash; and I will tell you, 'The wall is no more, neither those who plastered it;


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to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,'"' says the Lord God."


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"You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them,


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and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?


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You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies."


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"'Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls whom you hunt to make them fly.


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Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive:


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Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"


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"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?


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Therefore speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;


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that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols."'


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"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.


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For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the Lord will answer him by myself:


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and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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"'"If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.


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They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him;


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that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God," says the Lord God.'"


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"Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;


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though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God."


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"If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;


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though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord God, "they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.


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"Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land'; so that I cut off from it man and animal;


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though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.


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"Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;


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though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.


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"For thus says the Lord God: 'How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!


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Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.


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They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it,' says the Lord God."


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"Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?


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Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?


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Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work?


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Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!


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"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.


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and say, 'Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.


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As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.


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No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.


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"'When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, "Though you are in your blood, live."


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I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.


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"'Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,' says the Lord God, 'and you became mine.


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"'Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.


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I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.


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Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.


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Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,' says the Lord God.


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"'But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.


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You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.


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You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them;


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and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them.


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My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it was,' says the Lord God.


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"'Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,


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that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?


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In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.


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that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street.


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You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.


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You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.


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See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.


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You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.


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You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.


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"'How weak is your heart, says the Lord God, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;


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in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.


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They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.


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You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.'


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Thus says the Lord God, 'Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;


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therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.


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I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.


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I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.


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They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.


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They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.


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So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.


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"'Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head,' says the Lord God: 'and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.


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"'Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, "As is the mother, so is her daughter."


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You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.


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Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.


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Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.


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As I live,' says the Lord God, 'Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.


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"'Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.


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Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.


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You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.


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"'I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in their midst;


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that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.


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Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.


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before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around.


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"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.


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Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.


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Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.


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that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord God.'"


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and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:


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he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.


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He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.


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It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.


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'"There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.


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It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine."'


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"Say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? And not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.


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Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew."'"


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"Say now to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon:


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and he took of the royal family, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;


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that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.


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But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?


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"'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.


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Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.


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For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.'


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"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.


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I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.


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All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:


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in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.


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All the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.'"


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"What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?'


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Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.


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and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,


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and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;


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he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,


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has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live," says the Lord God.


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and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,


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has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,


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has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.


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"Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;


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who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,


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neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;


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who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.


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As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.


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"Yet you say, 'Why doesn't the son bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.


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The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.


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"But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.


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None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.


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Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" says the Lord God; "and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?


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But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.


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"'Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not equal." Hear now, house of Israel: "Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?"


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When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.


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Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.


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Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.


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Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not fair." "House of Israel, aren't my ways fair? Aren't your ways unfair?"


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"'Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,' says the Lord God. 'Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.


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Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?


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For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,' says the Lord God: 'therefore turn yourselves, and live.'"


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and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.


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She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.


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The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.


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"'Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.


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He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.


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He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.


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Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.


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They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.


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"'Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.


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It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.


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But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.


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Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.' This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."


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It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.


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"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."'


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Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;


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and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, 'I am the Lord your God';


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in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.


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I said to them, 'Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.'


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But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they each didn't throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.


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But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.


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Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.


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But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.


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But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.


text:
"'"Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;


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because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.


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Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.


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"'"I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.


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and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'


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But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.


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Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.


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Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;


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because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.


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Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;


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and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."'


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"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.


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For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.


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Then I said to them, 'What does the high place where you go mean?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."'


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"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you play the prostitute after their abominations?


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And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you;


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and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, 'We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'


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As I live," says the Lord God, "surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:


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and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;


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and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.


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Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you," says the Lord God.


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and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord."


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"'As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: "Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.


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For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel," says the Lord God, "there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.


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As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.


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You shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.


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There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.


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You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel," says the Lord God.'"


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"Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;


text:
and tell the forest of the South, 'Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.


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"Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;


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and tell the land of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.


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Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:


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and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more."'


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"Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes.


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It shall be, when they tell you, 'Why do you sigh?' that you shall say, 'Because of the news, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord God.'"


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"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord: Say, "A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;


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it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? The rod of my son, it condemns every tree.


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It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer."'


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Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.


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"You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms.


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I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: Ah! It is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.


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'Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.'


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I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, the Lord, have spoken it."


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"Also, you son of man, appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.


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You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem, the fortified.


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For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.


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In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.


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It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.


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"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand.


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"'You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,


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thus says the Lord God: "Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high."


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I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.'


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"You, son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, "A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;


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while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end.


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Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you.


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I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.


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You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be remembered no more: for I, the Lord, have spoken it."'"


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"You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.


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You shall say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!


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You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.


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Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult.


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In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.


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Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.


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In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.


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One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.


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In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,' says the Lord God.


text:
"'"Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.


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Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken it, and will do it.


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I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.


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You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"


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"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.


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As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.


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Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.


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As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath on you.'"


text:
"Son of man, tell her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.'


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There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst.


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Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.


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Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.


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Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken.


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The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.


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"I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.


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Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord God."


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and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.


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Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.


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"Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,


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who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.


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She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.


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Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.


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Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.


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These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.


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"Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.


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She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.


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She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,


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dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.


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The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.


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So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.


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Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt.


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She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.


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Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.


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"Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:


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the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.


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They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.


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I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.


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Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.


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"'For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;


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and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.


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These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much.


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You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.


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You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,' says the Lord God.


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"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.'"


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The Lord said moreover to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.


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For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.


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Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.


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For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.


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"'Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments,


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and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.'


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The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands twain, and beautiful crowns on their heads.


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Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, 'Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them.'


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They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.


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Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.


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"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.


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The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.


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'Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.


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They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.'"


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Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, write the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day.


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Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:


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gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.


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Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the caldron; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled in its midst."'


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"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it.


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For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.


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That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.'


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Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.


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Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its brass may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed.


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She has wearied herself with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't go forth by fire.


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In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.


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I, the Lord, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you,' says the Lord God."


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"Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.


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Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your lips, and do not eat men's bread."


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So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.


text:
'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.


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Your turbans shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.


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Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God."'"


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"You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,


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In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord."


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and tell the children of Ammon, 'Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God, "Because you said, 'Aha,' against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity:


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therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.


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I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am the Lord."


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For thus says the Lord God: "Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel;


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therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"


text:
"Thus says the Lord God: 'Because Moab and Seir say, "Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations";


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therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim,


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to the children of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations.


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them';


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therefore thus says the Lord God, 'I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.


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I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God.'"


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity;


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therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.


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I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.'"


text:
It happened in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste':


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therefore thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.'


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They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.


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She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it," says the Lord God; "and she shall become a spoil to the nations.


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Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.


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"For thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and many people.


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He shall kill your daughters in the field with the sword; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you.


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He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.


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By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.


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With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground.


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They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.


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I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it,' says the Lord God.


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"Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: 'Shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?


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Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.


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They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, "How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!


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Now shall the islands tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the islands that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure."'


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"For thus says the Lord God: 'When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you;


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then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:


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I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again,' says the Lord God."


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and tell Tyre, 'You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, thus says the Lord God: "You, Tyre, have said, 'I am perfect in beauty.'


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They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.


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Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the islands of Kittim.


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Of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you for a banner; blue and purple from the islands of Elishah was your awning.


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The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: your wise men, Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots.


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The old men of Gebal and the wise men of it were in you your repairers of ship seams: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise.


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Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in you; they set forth your comeliness.


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The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and valorous men were in your towers; they hanged their shields on your walls all around; they have perfected your beauty.


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Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.


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Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise.


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The men of Dedan were your traffickers; many islands were the market of your hand: they brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.


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Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.


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Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, and honey, and oil, and balm.


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Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.


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Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among your merchandise.


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Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they your merchants.


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The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers; they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.


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These were your traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise.


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The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.


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"'"Your rowers have brought you into great waters: the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas.


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Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.


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All who handled the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand on the land,


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and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:


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and they shall make themselves bald for you, and clothe them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.


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In their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, 'Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?'


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When your wares went forth out of the seas, you filled many peoples; you enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise.


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In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell in your midst.


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All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face.


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The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being."'"


text:
"Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas'; yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God-


text:
by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures;


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by your great wisdom and by your traffic you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches"-


text:
therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.


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They shall bring you down to the pit; and you shall die the death of those who are slain, in the heart of the seas.


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Will you yet say before him who kills you, 'I am God?' But you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.


text:
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it," says the Lord God.'"


text:
"Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, 'Thus says the Lord God: "You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.


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You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared.


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You were the anointed cherub who covers: and I set you, so that you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.


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You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.


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By the abundance of your traffic they filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.


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Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.


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By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.


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All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you have become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being."'"


text:
and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you;" and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.


text:
For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword on her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.


text:
"'There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them, that scorned them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.'


text:
"Thus says the Lord God: 'When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.


text:
They shall dwell securely therein; yes, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgments on all those who do them despite all around them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.'"


text:
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


text:
"Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.


text:
Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, 'My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.'


text:
I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.


text:
I'll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You'll fall on the open field. You won't be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.


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All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.


text:
When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs."


text:
"'Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.


text:
The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord. Because he has said, 'The river is mine, and I have made it;'


text:
therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.


text:
No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.


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I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries."


text:
"'For thus says the Lord God: "At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered;


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and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.


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It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.


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It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord God."'"


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It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.


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I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me,' says the Lord God.


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'In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"


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For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.


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A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.


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Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword."'


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"Thus says the Lord: 'They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword,' says the Lord God.


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'They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.


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They shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.


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In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.


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He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.


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I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, the Lord, have spoken it.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.


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I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime.


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The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity.


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At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.


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It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.


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I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.


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I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt.


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I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"


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It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?


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Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.


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The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.


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Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth.


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All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow.


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Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.


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The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty.


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I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.'


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"Therefore thus said the Lord God: 'Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;


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I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.


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Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.


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On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches;


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to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.


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I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.


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They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.


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To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord God."


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It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, 'You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.


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I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.


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I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.


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When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.


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All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord God.


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I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.


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Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.'


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By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.


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I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.


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'When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.


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This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith,' says the Lord God."


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It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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"Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.


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They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.


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The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: 'They are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'


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"Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;


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whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.


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"There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.


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They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.


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"There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.


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They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.


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"But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.


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"There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.


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"There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.


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"Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword," says the Lord God.


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"For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude," says the Lord God.


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"Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, 'When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;


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then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn't take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.


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He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn't take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.


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But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn't blow the trumpet, and the people aren't warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.'


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"So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.


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When I tell the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.


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Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn't turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.


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"You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: 'Thus you speak, saying, "Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?"'


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Tell them, 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?'


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"You, son of man, tell the children of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.'


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When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.


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Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die'; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;


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if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.


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None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.


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"Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not equal': but as for them, their way is not equal.


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When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.


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Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not equal.' House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways."


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It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city has been struck."


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Now the hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.


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"Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.'


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Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?


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You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?"'


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"You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.


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I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.


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Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed."'


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"As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, 'Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord.'


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They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.


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Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.


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When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them."


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"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?


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You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.


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You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.


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They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.


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My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought."'


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'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep';


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Thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.'"


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"'For thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.


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As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.


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I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.


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I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.


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"I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice."


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"'As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.


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Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?


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As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet."


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"'Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: "Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.


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Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;


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therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.


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I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.


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I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them;" I, the Lord, have spoken it.


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"'I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.


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I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.


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The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.


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They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.


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I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.


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They shall know that I, the Lord, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people," says the Lord God.


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and tell it, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.


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"'"Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;


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therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.


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Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.


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I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.


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I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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"'"Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it'; whereas the Lord was there:


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therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.


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You shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.


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You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it."


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As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord."'"


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"You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord God: "Because the enemy has said against you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient high places are ours in possession'"';


text:
therefore prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people";


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therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: "Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;


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therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.'"'


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"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:


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therefore thus says the Lord God: 'I have sworn, saying, "Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame."


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"'"'But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.


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and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;


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and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.'"


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"'Thus says the Lord God: "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation';


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"neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more," says the Lord God.'"


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"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.


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Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;


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and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.


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When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.'


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But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.


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"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.


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I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord God, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.


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For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.


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I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.


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I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.


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I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.


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You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.


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I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.


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I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.


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Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.


text:
Nor for your sake do I this," says the Lord God, "be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel."'


text:
"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.


text:
The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.


text:
They shall say, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited."


text:
Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, the Lord, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.'"


text:
"Thus says the Lord God: 'For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.


text:
As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"


text:
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.


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He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.


text:
Again he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, 'You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'


text:
Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.


text:
I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"


text:
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.


text:
I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.


text:
Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, 'Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'"


text:
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.


text:
Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'


text:
Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.


text:
You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.


text:
I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord."


text:
"You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, 'For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions': then take another stick, and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions':


text:
When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'


text:
tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand."'


text:
"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:


text:
and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;


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neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.


text:
"'"My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.


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They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.


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Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.


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The nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore."'"


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"Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,


text:
and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:


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and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;


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Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.


text:
"'"Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.


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After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.


text:
You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you."


text:
"'Thus says the Lord God: "It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:


text:
and you shall say, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;


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to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.'


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Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, 'Have you come to take the spoil? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?'"'


text:
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?


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You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army;


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and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes."


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"'Thus says the Lord God: "Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?"


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It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,' says the Lord God, 'that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.


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For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;


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so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.


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I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,' says the Lord God: 'every man's sword shall be against his brother.


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With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.


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I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'


text:
"You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:


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and I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel;


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and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.


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You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.


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I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the islands; and they shall know that I am the Lord.


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"'My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.


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Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord God; this is the day about which I have spoken.


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"'Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;


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so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord God.


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"'It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog.


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Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord God.


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They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.


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Those who pass through the land shall pass through; and when any sees a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog.


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"You, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, 'Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.


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You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.


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You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.


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You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war,' says the Lord God.


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"'I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.


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The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.


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According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them.'


text:
"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name.


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They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;


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when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.


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They shall know that I am the Lord their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;


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neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord God."


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In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there.


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In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.


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He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.


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The man said to me, "Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for, to the intent that I may show them to you, you are brought here: declare all that you see to the house of Israel."


text:
Behold, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.


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Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad.


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Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.


text:
Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.


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The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.


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He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;


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and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.


text:
He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door.


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From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.


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There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees.


text:
Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement.


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The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.


text:
Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.


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The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth.


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The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its arches were after the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


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The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them.


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There was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.


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He led me toward the south; and behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured its posts and its arches according to these measures.


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There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


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There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts.


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There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.


text:
Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;


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and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.


text:
The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps.


text:
He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures;


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and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.


text:
The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.


text:
its lodges, its posts, and its arches: and there were windows therein all around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


text:
The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.


text:
In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.


text:
On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.


text:
Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed the sacrifices.


text:
There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice.


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The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.


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Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.


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He said to me, "This room, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house;


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and the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to him."


text:
He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.


text:
Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.


text:
The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.


text:
He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.


text:
The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.


text:
Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.


text:
He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, "This is the most holy place."


text:
Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side.


text:
The side rooms were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house.


text:
The side rooms were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher around the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest room to the highest by the middle room.


text:
I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits.


text:
The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house.


text:
The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits all around.


text:
The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.


text:
So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long;


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also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.


text:
He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;


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the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),


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to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure.


text:
It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;


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so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house all around:


text:
from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.


text:
As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple.


text:
The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before the Lord.


text:
The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.


text:
There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.


text:
There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds.


text:
Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the room that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north.


text:
Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story.


text:
Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits' breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north.


text:
Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building.


text:
For they were in three stories, and they didn't have pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the uppermost was straitened more than the lowest and the middle from the ground.


text:
The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits.


text:
For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and behold, before the temple were one hundred cubits.


text:
In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms.


text:
The way before them was like the appearance of the way of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.


text:
According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.


text:
Then he said to me, "The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, they are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.


text:
When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to that which pertains to the people."


text:
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it all around.


text:
He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around.


text:
He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.


text:
Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory.


text:
It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.


text:
The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.


text:
He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places;


text:
in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, and their doorpost beside my doorpost, and there was but the wall between me and them; and they have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in my anger.


text:
Now let them put away their prostitution, and the dead bodies of their kings, far from me; and I will dwell in their midst forever.


text:
"You, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.


text:
If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them.


text:
"This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.


text:
"These are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border around its edge a span; and this shall be the base of the altar.


text:
From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit.


text:
The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns.


text:
The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad in the four sides of it; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and its bottom shall be a cubit around; and its steps shall look toward the east."


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He said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.


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You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me, says the Lord God, a young bull for a sin offering.


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You shall take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around: thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.


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You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary.


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"On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull.


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When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.


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You shall bring them near to the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to the Lord.


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"Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.


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When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord God."


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Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut.


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The Lord said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.


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As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same."


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Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.


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The Lord said to me, "Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.


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You shall tell the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,


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in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations.


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You have not performed the duty of my holy things; but you have set performers of my duty in my sanctuary for yourselves.'


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"Thus says the Lord God, 'No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.


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But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.


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Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.


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Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity.


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They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.


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Yet will I make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein.


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"'But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God:


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they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my instruction.


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"'It shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.


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They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their waists; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.


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When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy rooms; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments.


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"'Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.


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Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.


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They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.


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"'In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths holy.


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"'They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.


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In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.


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"'They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.


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They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.


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The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.


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The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or animal.


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"'Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to the Lord, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all its border all around.


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Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length by five hundred in breadth, square all around; and fifty cubits for its suburbs all around.


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Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy.


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It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.


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Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, for twenty rooms.


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"'You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.


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"'Whatever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.


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In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; dispossessing my people, says the Lord God.


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The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: its measure shall be after the homer.


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The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.


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"'This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley;


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and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer;)


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and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel-for a meal offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God.


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It shall be the prince's part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meal offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.


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"'Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.


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The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.


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So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple: so you shall make atonement for the house.


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"'In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.


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On that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.


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The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.


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He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meal offering, and according to the oil.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.


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The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.


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The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.


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The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to the Lord shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;


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and the meal offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish:


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and he shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by its way.


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"'But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go forth straight before him.


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"'In the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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When the prince shall prepare a freewill offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.


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"'You shall prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily: morning by morning you shall prepare it.


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You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to the Lord continually by a perpetual ordinance.


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Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.'


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.


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But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.


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Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not be scattered every man from his possession.'"


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Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked toward the north: and behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward.


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He said to me, "This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; that they not bring them forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people."


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Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.


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In the four corners of the court there were courts enclosed, forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure.


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There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around.


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Then he said to me, "These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people."


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He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.


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Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looks toward the east; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side.


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When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.


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Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the waist.


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Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.


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He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?"Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.


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Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.


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Then he said to me, "These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.


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It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes.


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It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.


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By the river on its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing."


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"Thus says the Lord God: 'This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.


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You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.


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"'This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;


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Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.


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The border from the sea, shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.


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The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side.


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The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea. This is the south side southward.


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The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.


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It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.


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It shall happen, that in what tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance,' says the Lord God."


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"Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion.


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"By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in its midst.


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The offering that you shall offer to the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth.


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For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in its midst.


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It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn't go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.


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It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.


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"Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.


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They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to the Lord.


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"The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in its midst.


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These shall be its measures: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.


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The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty.


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The remainder in the length, answerable to the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable to the holy offering; and its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.


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All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering foursquare, with the possession of the city.


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"The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in its midst.


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Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.


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By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea.


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This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord God.


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"These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure;


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and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.


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At the east side four thousand and five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.


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At the south side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.


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At the west side four thousand and five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.


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It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The Lord is there.'"


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In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.


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


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The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal family and of the nobles;


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youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.


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


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


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But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's royal food, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.


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


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


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


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At the end of ten days their faces appeared better and fatter than all the youths who ate of the king's royal food.


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


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


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


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


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


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In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.


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


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


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


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


