Psalms 50 Cross References - ISV

¹ A song of Asaph.
The Acceptable Sacrifice God, the LORD, has spoken. He has summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting place. ² From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth. ³ Our God has appeared and he has not been silent; a devouring fire blazed before him, and a mighty storm swirled around him. ⁴ He summoned the heavens above and the earth below, to sit in judgment on his people. ⁵ “Assemble before me, my saints, who have entered into my covenant by sacrifice.” ⁶ The heavens revealed his justice, for God is himself the judge. Interlude ⁷ “Listen, my people, for I am making a pronouncement: Israel, I, God, your God, am testifying against you. ⁸ I do not rebuke you because of your sacrifices; indeed, your burnt offerings are continuously before me. ⁹ I will no longer accept a sacrificial bull from your household; nor goats from your pens. ¹⁰ Indeed, every animal of the forest is mine, even the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds in the mountains; indeed, everything that moves in the field is mine. ¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is mine along with everything in it. ¹³ Why should I eat the flesh of oxen or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Offer to God a thanksgiving praise; pay your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.” ¹⁶ As for the wicked, God says, “How dare you recite my statutes or speak about my covenant with your lips! ¹⁷ You hate instruction and toss my words behind you. ¹⁸ When you see a thief, you befriend him, and you keep company with adulterers. ¹⁹ You give your mouth free reign for evil, and your tongue devises deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. ²¹ These things you did, and I kept silent, because you assumed that I was like you. But now I am going to rebuke you, and I will set forth my case before your very own eyes.” ²² Consider this, you who have forgotten God— Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces and there will be no deliverer: ²³ Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and I will reveal the salvation of God to whomever continues in my way.”

¹ God Appears to AbramWhen Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and announced, “I am God Almighty. Live in constant awareness that I’m always with you, and be blameless.

²² “The God of gods, the LORD, the God of gods, the LORD is the one who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the LORD, may he not deliver us today!

²¹ where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, “How long will you keep hesitating between both sides? If the LORD is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him.”
But the people didn’t say a word.

³⁶ Elijah’s Prayer and God’s Answer by FireAs the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word. ³⁷ Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again.”

¹⁷ So the descendants of Levi appointed Joel’s son Heman, his relative Berechiah’s son Asaph, as well as certain relatives of Merari’s sons, including Kushaiah’s son Ethan,

³⁷ David’s Establishes Regular WorshipLater David left the presence of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD so Asaph and his fellow descendants of Levi could serve the ark there continually each day, doing whatever was required.

² from the descendants of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph mentored by Asaph himself, who prophesied under the supervision of the king;

⁶ They were all under their father’s supervision regarding music in the Temple of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the Temple of God.
Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under command of the king.

³⁰ King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the descendants of Levi to sing praises to the LORD based on psalms that had been written by David and Asaph the seer. So they all joyfully sang praises, bowed low, and worshipped.

⁶ “You are the LORD; you alone crafted the heavens, the highest heavens with all of their armies; the earth, and everything in it; the seas, and everything in them; you keep giving all of them life, and the army of heaven continuously worships you.

³² “Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and gracious love, don’t let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you, all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings, upon our leaders, upon our priests, upon our prophets, upon our ancestors, and upon all of your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

¹ To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.
The Destiny of the Wicked and the Upright Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, all you who live in the world, ² both average people and those of means, the rich and the poor together.

¹ A song of Asaph.
A Plea for Deliverance God is indeed good to Israel, to those pure in heart.

¹ A song. A Psalm of Asaph
A Plea for Judgment God, do not rest! Don’t be silent! Don’t stay inactive, God!

³ From rising to setting sun, may the name of the LORD be praised.

³ The LORD is great, and to be praised highly, though his greatness is indescribable. ⁴ One generation will acclaim your works to another and will describe your mighty actions. ⁵ I will speak about the glorious splendor of your majesty as well as your awesome actions. ⁶ People will speak about the might of your great deeds, and I will announce your greatness.

² Rebellious JudahListen, you heavens, and let the earth pay attention, because the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them to adulthood, but then they rebelled against me.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

²⁰ So now, LORD our God, save us from his oppressive hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

⁵ For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth.

⁶ There is no one like you, LORD. You are great, and your name is great and powerful.

¹⁸ You, the great God, the mighty one, show gracious love to thousands and repay the parents’ iniquity to their children after them. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. ¹⁹ You are great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.

⁸ A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who will not prophesy?

¹¹ Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

³² All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will cull them out, one from another, like a shepherd separates sheep from goats.

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai. Rising from Seir upon us, he shone forth from Mount Paran, accompanied by a myriad of his holy ones, with flaming fire from his right hand for them.

² Beautifully situated, the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion towards the north, the city of the great King.

²⁴ They have observed your processions, God, the processions of my God, my king, in the sanctuary.

¹ For the Director of Music: According to “The Lilies”. A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.
A Prayer for Jerusalem Shepherd of Israel, listen! The one who leads Joseph like a flock, the one enthroned on the cherubim, display your glory.

¹⁷ May you support the man at your right hand; the son of man whom you have raised for yourself.

² The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob. ³ Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Interlude

¹ God Avenges His Own God of vengeance, LORD God of vengeance, display your splendor!

¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness, and all of him is desirable. This is my beloved, this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem!

⁶ Shout aloud, and sing for joy, you who live in Zion, because great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

²¹ For see, the LORD is coming from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sins; the earth will reveal the blood that has been shed on it, and will no longer conceal its slain.”

¹⁵ Everyone who passes by on the road shake their fists at you. They hiss and shake their heads at cherished Jerusalem: “Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’ and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’”?

¹⁵ “I will leave and go back to my place until they admit their offense and seek my face. When affliction comes to them, they will eagerly seek me.”

²⁰ The LORD’s Final Counsel to Habakkuk“The LORD is in his holy Temple. All the earth—be quiet in his presence.”

³ God comes from Teman— the Holy One from Mount Paran. Interlude His glory spreads throughout the heavens, and praises about him fill the earth. ⁴ His radiance is like sunlight; beams of light shine from his hand, where his strength lays hidden.

¹⁷ For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the virgins.

²² Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together, ²³ to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.
²⁵ See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who is from heaven! ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”

¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines with full force.

²³ The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light, because the glory of God gave it light, and the lamb was its lamp.

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the LORD had come down in fire on it. Smoke went up from it like smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.

² As a result, fire came out from the LORD’s presence and incinerated them. They died while in the LORD’s presence.

³⁵ After this, fire came from the LORD and incinerated the 250 men who offered the incense.

³ But know today that the LORD your God is going ahead of you as a consuming fire. He will destroy and subdue them before you. He will dispossess and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD told you.

¹¹ “Go out,” he responded, “and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD.” And there was the LORD, passing by! A tremendous, mighty windstorm was tearing at the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in the presence of the LORD, but the LORD was not in the windstorm. After the wind there came an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake there came fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

⁷ The world shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains quaked, they shook because he was angry. ⁸ In his anger smoke poured out of his nostrils, and consuming fire from his mouth; coals were lit from it. ⁹ He bent the sky and descended, and darkness was under his feet. ¹⁰ He rode upon a cherub and flew; he soared upon the wings of the wind. ¹¹ He made darkness his hiding place, his canopy surrounding him was dark waters and thick clouds. ¹² The brightness before him scattered the thick clouds, with hail stones and flashes of fire. ¹³ Then the LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Most High sounded aloud, calling for hail stones and flashes of fire. ¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered them; with many lightning bolts he frightened them. ¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered because of your rebuke, LORD, because of the blast from the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁴ For this God is our God forever and ever. He will guide us until death.

²¹ These things you did, and I kept silent, because you assumed that I was like you. But now I am going to rebuke you, and I will set forth my case before your very own eyes.”

²⁰ God is for us the God of our deliverance. The Lord GOD rescues us from death.

¹³ in the LORD’s presence, because he is coming; indeed, he will come to judge the earth. He will judge the world fairly and its people reliably.

³ Fire goes out from his presence to consume his enemies on every side. ⁴ His lightning bolts light the world; the earth sees and shakes. ⁵ Mountains melt like wax in the LORD’s presence— In the presence of the LORD of all the earth.

¹³ The LORD marches out like a warrior; he stirs up his rage like a man of war; he makes his anger heard; he shouts aloud; he declares his mastery over his enemies: ¹⁴ “I have certainly stayed silent for a long time; I’ve kept still and held myself back. Now, like a woman giving birth, I’ll cry out. All of a sudden I’ll gasp and pant.

⁶ Watch out! It stands written before me: ‘I won’t keep silent, but I will pay back in full; I’ll indeed repay into their laps ⁷ both your iniquities and your ancestors’ iniquities together,’’ says the LORD. “Because they offered incense on the mountains and insulted me on hills, I’ll measure into their laps full payment for their earlier actions.”

¹⁰ A river of fire flowed out from before him. Thousands upon thousands were serving him, with millions upon millions waiting before him. The court sat in judgment, and record books were unsealed.

⁵ Mountains shake because of him, and the hills melt. The earth goes into upheaval at his presence, as does the world with all of its inhabitants. ⁶ Who can stand before his fury? And who can endure his fierce anger? His displeasure pours out like fire, and rocks are broken to pieces because of him.
⁷ The LORD’s Goodness in the Midst of JudgmentThe LORD is good— a refuge in troubled times. He knows those who are confiding in him.

⁵ Before him pestilence walks, and disease follows behind him.

² But who will survive the day when he comes? Or who can stand when he appears? Because he’s like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap, ³ he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they’ll bring a righteous offering to the LORD.

¹ The Great Day of the LORD“The coming day is certainly going to burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and all who practice evil will be stubble—the coming day will set them on fire,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clean up his threshing floor and gather his grain into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”

⁸ in blazing fire. He will take revenge on those who do not know God and on those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power

³ how will we escape if we neglect a salvation as great as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

²⁸ Anyone who violates the Law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” ²⁹ How much more severe a punishment do you think that person deserves who tramples on God’s Son, treats as common the blood of the covenant by which it was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace?

¹⁸ You have not come to something that can be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, ¹⁹ to a trumpet’s blast, or to a voice that made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the command that was given: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ Indeed, the sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²⁹ For “our God is an all-consuming fire.”

²⁰ EpilogueThe one who is testifying to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²⁶ Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred today: you’ll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won’t live long in it, because you’ll certainly be exterminated.

³⁶ You have been made to hear his voice from heaven so you may be instructed. And he showed you his great fire here on earth, and you heard his voice from the middle of that fire.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I’ve set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you—you and your children.

²⁸ Gather together the leaders of your tribes and your foremen so I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and the earth as witnesses against them,

¹ The Song of Moses Hear, heavens, and I will speak! Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!

⁶ The heavens revealed his justice, for God is himself the judge. Interlude

⁹ in the LORD’s presence, who comes to judge the earth; He’ll judge the world righteously; and its people fairly.

³ His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won’t judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth’s poor. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and the wicked will be killed with the breath of his lips.

¹ The LORD’s Indictment against IsraelPlease hear what the LORD says: “Get up and make your case before the mountains, and let the hills listen to your voice. ² Listen, you mountains, to the LORD’s argument! Listen, you strong foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a dispute with his people, and he will set out his case before Israel.

²² The Father judges no one, but has given all authority to judge to the Son, ²³ so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

³ Then Moses came and reported all the words of the LORD and all the statutes to the people, and they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has decreed.”
⁴ So Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He got up early in the morning and built an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. ⁵ He sent young Israeli men to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. ⁶ Moses took half the blood and put it in bowls, while he sprinkled the other half on the altar. ⁷ He took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They said, “We will put into practice and obey everything that the LORD has decreed.”
⁸ Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD made with you based on all these words.”

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai. Rising from Seir upon us, he shone forth from Mount Paran, accompanied by a myriad of his holy ones, with flaming fire from his right hand for them. ³ Indeed, lover of people, all of his holy ones are in your control. They gather at your feet to do as you have instructed.

⁴ You, his godly ones, sing to the LORD, give thanks at the mention of his holiness.

¹⁰ Hate evil, you who love the LORD! He guards the lives of those who love him, delivering them from domination by the wicked.

⁸ guarding the paths of the just and protecting the way of his faithful ones.

³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones; I have also summoned my warriors, those who rejoice in my triumph, to carry out my angry judgments.

⁵ You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you.”

³¹ He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.”

²⁸ because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.

² You know that the saints will rule the world, don’t you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can’t you handle insignificant cases? ³ You know that we will rule angels, not to mention things in this life, don’t you?

¹³ Then your hearts will be strong, blameless, and holy in the presence of God, who is our Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints.

¹⁶ With a shout of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and the dead who belong to the Messiah will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

¹ The Lawless OneNow we ask you, brothers, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and our gathering together to him,

¹⁰ since they deal only with food, drink, and various washings, which are required for the body until the time when things would be set right.
¹¹ The Messiah Has Offered a Superior SacrificeBut when the Messiah came as a high priest of the good things that have come, he went through the greater and more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not a part of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he went into the Most Holy Place once for all and secured our eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are unclean purifies them physically, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!
¹⁵ The Messiah is the Mediator of a New CovenantThis is why the Messiah is the mediator of a new covenant; so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised them, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the offenses committed under the first covenant. ¹⁶ For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷ For a will is in force only when somebody has died, since it never takes effect as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹ For after every commandment in the Law had been spoken to all the people by Moses, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with some water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God ordained for you.” ²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and everything used in worship. ²² In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness.
²³ The Messiah’s Perfect SacrificeThus it was necessary for these earthly copies of the things in heaven to be cleansed by these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves are made clean with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴ to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,

¹⁴ Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “Look! The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy ones.

²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won’t he?”

³ LORD, my God, if I have done this thing, if there is injustice on my hands, ⁴ if I have rewarded those who did me good with evil, if I have plundered my enemy without justification, ⁵ then, let my enemy pursue me, let him overtake me, and let him trample my life to the ground. Interlude Let him put my honor into the dust.

¹⁶ The LORD has made himself known, executing judgment. The wicked are ensnared by what their hands have made. Interlude

⁷ since God is the judge. This one he will debase or that one he will exalt.

⁵ Even the heavens praise your awesome deeds, LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶ The heavens declare his righteousness so that all the nations see his glory.

⁵ But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁹ For this reason the Messiah died and returned to life, so that he might become the Lord of both the dead and the living.
¹⁰ Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.”
¹² Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹⁰ For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless.

⁵ Then I heard the angel in charge of the water say, “You are just. You are the one who is and who was, the Holy One, because you have judged these things. ⁶ You have given them blood to drink because they spilled the blood of saints and prophets. This is what they deserve.” ⁷ Then I heard the altar reply, “Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true and just.”

² His judgments are true and just. He has condemned the notorious prostitute who corrupted the world with her immorality. He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.”

¹¹ The Vision of the White Throne JudgmentThen I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. ¹² I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened—the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books.

⁵ And now if you carefully obey me and keep my covenant, you are to be my special possession out of all the peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me, ⁶ but you are to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to me.’ These are the words you are to declare to the Israelis.”

² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹⁷ You have declared this very day that the LORD will be your God. You are to walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and judgments, and obey his voice. ¹⁸ The LORD affirmed this day that you are his prized possession. Therefore observe his commands,

¹⁹ Moses Instructed to Teach a Song“Now write this song and teach it to the Israelis. Put this song in their very mouths, so that it will be a witness for me against the Israelis, ²⁰ because after I’ve brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised to their ancestors by an oath, they’ll eat, grow fat, and then they’ll turn to other gods and serve them, while despising me and breaking my covenant. ²¹ Then, when many evils and troubles will have come upon them, this song will serve as a witness against them, since their descendants won’t fail to sing it. I know the plan that they are devising even before I bring them into the land that I promised them by an oath.”

²² Indeed, the LORD won’t abandon His people for the sake of His great name, for the LORD desires to make you a people for himself. ²³ Now as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. I’ll also instruct you in the way that is good and right. ²⁴ Only, fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Indeed, consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

¹³ Nevertheless, the LORD had warned both Israel and Judah by means of every prophet and seer: “Turn away from your evil practices and keep my commandments and statutes according to the entire Law that I gave your ancestors and that I sent to you through my servants, the prophets.”

⁵ Aram and Israel Defeat Judah
As a result, the LORD his God handed Ahaz over to the king of Aram, who defeated him and took a large number of captives away to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered over to the control of the King of Israel, who defeated him with many heavy casualties.

²⁹ You admonished them to return to your Law, but they acted arrogantly, and would not listen to your commands. They sinned against your regulations, which if anyone obeys, he will live by them. They turned away, being stubborn and stiff-necked, and they did not listen. ³⁰ You were patient with them for many years, warning them by your Spirit through your prophets. But they would not listen, so you turned them over to the control of people in other lands.

¹ To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.
The Destiny of the Wicked and the Upright Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, all you who live in the world,

⁸ Listen, My people and I will warn you. Israel, if only you would obey me!

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, open your mouth that I may fill it. ¹¹ Yet my people didn’t obey my voice; Israel didn’t submit to me. ¹² So I allowed them to continue in their stubbornness, living by their own advice.

¹⁸ “Please come, and let’s reason together,” implores the LORD. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be white like snow. Though they’re like crimson, they’ll become like wool.

⁴ Her Rejection of God’s LoveListen to this message from the LORD, you descendants of Jacob and all the families of the descendants of Israel. ⁵ This is what the LORD says: “What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they left me, and pursued worthless things, and so they became worthless?

⁹ “Therefore I’ll again accuse you,” declares the LORD, “and I’ll accuse your grandchildren.”

⁵ Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “The day I chose Israel, when I made my commitment to the descendants of Jacob’s house, I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and I made my promise to them with the words, ‘I am the LORD your God.’

⁷ Then I told them, ‘Each of you are to abandon your detestable practices. You are not to defile yourselves with Egypt’s idols. I am the LORD your God.’”’”

¹⁹ I am the LORD your God. You are to follow my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them. ²⁰ You are to make my Sabbaths holy, and you are to let them serve as a sign between you and me, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’”

¹ The LORD’s Indictment against IsraelPlease hear what the LORD says: “Get up and make your case before the mountains, and let the hills listen to your voice. ² Listen, you mountains, to the LORD’s argument! Listen, you strong foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a dispute with his people, and he will set out his case before Israel. ³ “My people, what have I done to you, and how have I offended you? Answer me! ⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and ransomed you from the house of slavery, sending Moses, Aaron, and Miriam into your presence. ⁵ “My people, recall how king Balak of Moab deliberated, and how Beor’s son Balaam counseled him from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
⁶ The Nature of True RighteousnessHow am I to present myself in the LORD’s presence and bow in the presence of the High God? Should I present myself with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with endless rivers of oil? Am I to give my firstborn to pay for my rebellion, the fruit of my body in exchange for my soul? ⁸ He has made it clear to you, mortal man, what is good and what the LORD is requiring from you— to act with justice, to treasure the LORD’s gracious love, and to walk humbly in the company of your God.

⁹ And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

⁵ The Judgment of God“I’ll come near to you for judgment. I’ll be a witness, quick to speak against sorcerers, against adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who defraud the laborer of his wage, against those who defraud the widow and the orphan, against those who deprive the alien of justice, and against those who don’t fear me,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

⁶ You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings— you have prepared my ears to listen— you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin. ⁷ Then I said, “Here I am! I have come! In the scroll of the book it is written about me. ⁸ I delight to do your will, my God. Your Law is part of my inner being.”

¹⁶ Indeed, you do not delight in sacrifices, or I would give them, nor do you desire burnt offerings.

¹¹ “How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?” the LORD is asking. “I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don’t enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. ¹² “When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts? ¹³ Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ As for your New Moons and your appointed festivals, I abhor them. They’ve become a burden to me; I’ve grown weary of carrying that burden. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray repeatedly, I won’t listen. Your hands are full of blood, your fingers drenched with iniquity.”
¹⁶ An Invitation to Reconciliation“Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean; remove your evil behavior from my presence; stop practicing what is evil. ¹⁷ Learn to practice what is good; seek justice, alleviate oppression, defend orphans in court, and plead the widow’s case. ¹⁸ “Please come, and let’s reason together,” implores the LORD. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be white like snow. Though they’re like crimson, they’ll become like wool. ¹⁹ If you’re willing and obedient, you’ll eat the best that the land produces; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you’ll be devoured by the sword, because the LORD has spoken.”
²¹ Diagnosis and Judgment“How the faithful city has become a whore, she who used to be filled with justice! Righteousness used to reside within her, but now only murderers live there. ²² Your silver has become dross, your best wine is diluted with water. ²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. All of them are lovers of bribes and are runners after gifts. They don’t bring justice to orphans, and the widow’s case never comes up for review in their court.”
²⁴ Restoration and RedemptionTherefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies, the one who is Israel’s Mighty One, declares: “Now I’ll get relief from his enemies and avenge myself on his foes. ²⁵ When I turn my attention to you, I’ll refine your dross as in a furnace. I’ll remove all your alloy. ²⁶ Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’ and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’. ²⁷ “Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her repentant ones by righteousness. ²⁸ Rebels and sinners will be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD will be consumed. ²⁹ They’ll be ashamed of the oak trees that you desired; and you’ll blush because of the gardens that you have chosen. ³⁰ You’ll be like an oak whose leaf is withering, like an unwatered garden. ³¹ Your strong one will be like tinder, and your work a spark; both of them will burn together, with no one to quench the flames that burn them.”

²¹ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat. ²² Indeed, when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I didn’t speak or command them about burnt offering and sacrifice, ²³ but I did give them this command: ‘Obey me and I’ll be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you so it will go well for you.’

⁶ For it is love that I seek, and not sacrifice; knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁴ for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
⁵ The Messiah Offered One SacrificeFor this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: “You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings you never took delight. ⁷ Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, O God’ In the volume of the scroll this is written about me.” ⁸ In this passage he says, “You never wanted or took delight in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings,” which are offered according to the Law. ⁹ Then he says, “See, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By God’s will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah.

³¹ That will please the LORD more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.

²³ You haven’t brought me your sheep for a burnt-offering, nor have you honored me with your sacrifices, nor have you made meal offerings for me— yet I have not tired you about incense! ²⁴ You haven’t bought me sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. You have only burdened me with your sins and made me tired with your iniquities.

²⁵ and he isn’t served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

⁴ for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
⁵ The Messiah Offered One SacrificeFor this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: “You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings you never took delight.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature, each kind of livestock and crawling thing, and each kind of earth’s animals!” And that is what happened: ²⁵ God made each kind of the earth’s animals, along with every kind of livestock and crawling thing. And God saw how good it was.

¹⁹ After the LORD God formed from the ground every wild animal and every bird that flies, he brought each of them to the man to see what he would call it. Whatever the man called each living creature became its name.

¹⁷ Bring out with you every living creature—including the flying creatures, animals, and everything that crawls on the ground—so they may disperse throughout the land, be fruitful, and multiply throughout the earth.”

² All the living creatures of the earth will be filled with fear and terror of you from now on, including all the creatures that fly in the sky, everything that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the ocean. They’ve been assigned to live under your dominion.
³ “Every living, moving creature will be food for you. Just as I gave you green plants before, so now you have everything.

⁹ “So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we make such voluntary offerings as these? For all things come from you, and from your own hand we are giving to you. ¹⁵ For we are aliens and vagrants in your presence, as were all of our ancestors. Our days on the earth pass away like shadows, and we have no hope. ¹⁶ LORD our God, all of this abundance that we have given for building a temple for your great name was provided by you and all of it belongs to you.

¹⁵ On Behemoth“Please observe Behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox. ¹⁶ Now take a look at the strength that he has in his loins, and in the muscles of his abdomen. ¹⁷ His tail protrudes stiffly, like cedar; the sinews of his thigh interlink for strength. ¹⁸ His bones are conduits of bronze; his strong bones are like bars of iron. ¹⁹ He is the grandest of God’s undertakings, yet his creator is approaching him with his sword. ²⁰ Mountains produce food for him, where all the wild animals frolic. ²¹ He lies under the lotus trees, hiding under reeds and marshes. ²² The lotus trees cover him with their shade, and willows that line the wadis surround him. ²³ What you see as a raging river doesn’t alarm him; he is confident when the Jordan overflows. ²⁴ Are your eyes looking to capture him, or to pierce his snout with a bridle?”

⁶ You gave him dominion over the work of your hands, you put all things under his feet: ⁷ Sheep and cattle—all of them, wild creatures of the field, ⁸ birds in the sky, fish in the sea— whatever moves through the currents of the oceans.

¹⁴ He causes grass to sprout for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate, to produce food from the land,

²⁴ How numerous are your works, LORD! You have made them all wisely; the earth is filled with your creations. ²⁵ There is the deep and wide sea, teeming with numberless creatures, living things small and great.

⁵ “By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁶ Now I’ve given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I’ve even given him the wild animals to serve him.

³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals, or birds of the sky live, he has placed them under your control, giving you dominion over them all—you’re that head of gold.

¹¹ So why shouldn’t I be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 human beings who do not know their right hand from their left, as well as a lot of livestock?

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the oceans swarm with living creatures, and let flying creatures soar above the earth throughout the sky!” ²¹ So God created every kind of magnificent marine creature, every kind of living marine crawler with which the waters swarmed, and every kind of flying creature. And God saw how good it was. ²² God blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the oceans. Let the birds multiply throughout the earth!”

⁴¹ Who prepares food for the raven, when its offspring cry out to God as they wander for lack of food?”

¹³ On the Ostrich“The wings of the ostrich flap joyously, but aren’t its pinions and feathers like the stork? ¹⁴ She abandons her eggs on the ground and lets them be warmed in the sand, ¹⁵ but she forgets that a foot might crush them or any wild animal might trample them. ¹⁶ She mistreats her young as though they’re not hers, and she has no fear that her labor may be in vain, ¹⁷ because God didn’t grant her wisdom and never gave her understanding. ¹⁸ And yet when she gets ready to run, she laughs at the horse and its rider.”

²⁶ On Raptors“Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading its wings toward the south? ²⁷ Does the eagle soar high at your command and build its nest on the highest crags? ²⁸ He dwells on the crags where he makes his home, there on the rocky crag is his stronghold. ²⁹ From there he searches for prey, and his eyes recognize it from a distance. ³⁰ His young ones feast on blood; he’ll be found wherever there’s a carcass.”

¹² Birds of the sky live beside them and chirp a song among the foliage.

⁹ He gives wild animals their food, including the young ravens when they cry.

⁹ “All you wild animals, come and devour— even all of you wild animals.

¹⁵ “If I were to make wild animals pass throughout the land, so that they kill its residents and it were to become desolate because no one will travel through it due to those wild animals, ¹⁶ then even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they wouldn’t be able to deliver even their sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would become desolate.

²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren’t you?

²⁹ “Two sparrows are sold for a penny, aren’t they? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s permission. ³⁰ Indeed, even the hairs on your head have all been counted! ³¹ So stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows.”

²⁴ Consider the crows. They don’t plant or harvest, they don’t even have a storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

¹¹ Then God said, “Let vegetation sprout all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed!” And that is what happened: ¹² Vegetation sprouted all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed. And God saw that it was good.

²⁸ God blessed the humans by saying to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, and every living thing that crawls on the earth!”
²⁹ God also told them, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant that grows throughout the earth, along with every tree that grows seed-bearing fruit. They will produce your food. ³⁰ I have given all green plants as food for every wild animal of the earth, every bird that flies, and to every living thing that crawls on the earth.” And that is what happened.

⁵ And now if you carefully obey me and keep my covenant, you are to be my special possession out of all the peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me,

¹⁴ You see, heaven—even the highest heavens—belongs to the LORD, along with the earth and all that is in it,

¹¹ Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me? All of heaven is mine.

¹ A Davidic Psalm.
A Song for the King of Glory The earth and everything in it exists for the LORD— the world and those who live in it. ² Indeed, he founded it upon the seas, he established it upon deep waters.

²⁴ How numerous are your works, LORD! You have made them all wisely; the earth is filled with your creations.

¹⁵ May you be blessed by the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but he gave the earth to human beings.

¹⁵ Everyone’s eyes are on you, as you give them their food in due time. ¹⁶ You open your hand and keep on satisfying the desire of every living thing.

²⁶ for “the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.” ²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to his house and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you, raising no question on the grounds of conscience. ²⁸ However, if someone says to you, “This was offered as a sacrifice,” don’t eat it, both out of consideration for the one who told you and also for the sake of conscience.

² “Tell the Israelis that when a person makes a special vow based on the appropriate value of people who belong to the LORD, ³ if your valuation of the vow is for a male from 20 to 60 years old, the valuation is to be 50 shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁴ If she is a female from 20 to 60 years old, then your valuation is to be 30 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵ If a person is from five to 20 years, then your valuation for a male is to be 20 shekels and for a female ten shekels. ⁶ If a person is from one month to five years old, then your valuation for a male is to be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation is to be three shekels of silver. ⁷ If a person is 60 or more years old, then your valuation for a male is to be fifteen shekels and for a female ten shekels. ⁸ But if he is too poor to be valuated, then cause him to stand before the priest and let the priest set a value on him according to the ability of the one making the vow.
⁹ “If it’s an animal from which they make an offering to the LORD, everything that he gives to the LORD from it will be holy. ¹⁰ He is not to substitute it or exchange it—the good with the bad or the bad with the good. If he ever makes an exchange of an animal for an animal, then it and what’s being exchanged is holy. ¹¹ If any animal is unclean, which cannot be brought to the LORD as an offering, make the animal stand in the presence of the priest, ¹² then the priest will evaluate it as to whether it is good or bad. According to your—that is, the priest’s—valuation, so it is to be. ¹³ If a kinsman redeemer decides to redeem it, then he is to add a fifth to your valuation.”
¹⁴ Gifts of Residences“If a person consecrates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest is to set a value for it as to its worth, whether good or bad. As the priest sets value on it, so it will stand. ¹⁵ And if he that consecrated it wishes to redeem his house, he is to add one fifth to your valuation, after which it is to belong to him.
¹⁶ “If a person consecrates to the LORD a portion of the field from his inheritance, then your valuation is to be based on its capacity for yielding a harvest. Each omer of barley is to be valued at 50 shekels of silver. ¹⁷ If he consecrates his field in the year of jubilee, it is to be based on your valuation. ¹⁸ If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, then the priest is to account to him the silver according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, with a deduction corresponding to your valuation.
¹⁹ “If the one who consecrated the field intends to redeem it, then he is to add one fifth of your valuation to it in silver, then it is to be established as his. ²⁰ But if he won’t redeem the field, but instead sells it to another person, then it is not to be redeemed anymore. ²¹ When the field is released in the jubilee, it will be holy to the LORD. As a field that’s devoted, it is to belong to the priest as his inheritance. ²² If he consecrates a field that he had bought and that isn’t part of his inheritance, ²³ then the priest is to account to him the evaluated worth until the year of jubilee. Then he is to give the amount of valuation on that day as a holy gift to the LORD. ²⁴ During the year of jubilee, the field is to be returned by the one who originally sold it—that is, to the owner of the land. ²⁵ Every valuation is to be according to the shekel of the sanctuary, evaluated at 20 gerahs to the shekel.
²⁶ “No person is to consecrate the firstborn, because the firstborn of the animals already belongs to the LORD. Whether ox or goat, it belongs to the LORD. ²⁷ If it’s an unclean animal, then he is to ransom it according to your valuation, adding a fifth to it. If it’s not redeemed, then it is to be sold according to your valuation. ²⁸ However, any devoted thing that a person consecrates to the LORD from what he owns—whether man, animals, or inherited fields—is not to be sold or redeemed. Any devoted thing is most sacred. It belongs to the LORD. ²⁹ But anyone who is completely devoted from among human beings is not to be ransomed. He is certainly to be put to death.
³⁰ “Any tithes of the land—from grain grown on the land or from fruit grown on the trees—belong to the LORD. They are sacred to the LORD. ³¹ But if a person wishes to redeem his tithe, he is to add a fifth to it. ³² All the tithes from cattle and flocks that pass under the measuring rod are sacred to the LORD. ³³ He is not to examine it to see if it’s good or bad or even exchange it. If he does exchange it, what has been exchanged as well as its substitute is sacred. It is not to be redeemed.”
³⁴ These are the commands that the LORD commanded Moses to deliver to the Israelis on Mount Sinai.

² ‘When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath—an obligation that is binding to himself—he is not to break his word. Instead, he is to fulfill whatever promise came out of his mouth.’”
³ Vows by Unmarried Women“When a young woman makes a vow to the LORD or pledges herself to an obligation while she still lives in her father’s house, ⁴ and her father hears her vow and the obligations that she had pledged herself to fulfill, yet her father keeps silent about it, then all her vows and every obligation she pledged herself to are to stand. ⁵ But if her father disallows her on the same day that he hears what she has said, then all her vows and every obligation she had pledged herself to fulfill are not to stand. The LORD will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her.”
⁶ Vows by Married Women“If she has a husband and she makes a vow that is binding on herself, or if she makes a hasty vow with her mouth that she pledges herself to fulfill, ⁷ and her husband hears her vow, yet remains silent on the day that he hears it, then her vows are to stand and the obligation to which she had pledged herself is to stand. ⁸ But if, on the same day her husband hears and disallows her, then he has revoked her vows that she made for herself, along with any hasty vows that she spoke and to which she pledged herself to fulfill. The LORD will forgive her.”
⁹ Vows by Widows or the Divorced“Everything that a widow or a divorced woman pledges herself to fulfill are to be binding on her. ¹⁰ If, while she had been living in her late or former husband’s house, she makes a vow or a promise that binds her with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband hears it but remains silent, not disallowing it, then all her vows are to stand, along with every obligation that she has pledged to fulfill. ¹² But if her husband disallowed them the very day that he heard her, everything that she spoke relating to her vows and her obligation to herself are not to stand, because her husband revoked them. The LORD will forgive her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or revoke every vow and binding obligation that afflicts her. ¹⁴ But if her husband remains silent about her from day to day, then he has affirmed all her vows or obligations that she has obligated herself to fulfill. He has affirmed them because he remained silent from the day he heard her vows. ¹⁵ But if he nullified them after he had heard, then he will be responsible for any resulting iniquity.”
¹⁶ These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife and concerning a father and his young daughter while she still lives in her father’s house.

²¹ “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, don’t delay paying it, because the LORD your God will certainly demand payment from you, and then you will be guilty of sin.

²⁵ My praise in the great congregation is because of you; I will pay my vows before those who fear you.

⁶ Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies, even those who surround me. I will sacrifice in his tent with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melodies to the LORD.

²³ Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and I will reveal the salvation of God to whomever continues in my way.”

¹² God, I have taken vows before you; therefore I will offer thanksgiving sacrifices to you.

⁸ So I will sing songs to your name forever; I will fulfill my promises day by day.

¹ To the Director: A song. Lyrics by David.
A Song of Praise to God In Zion, God, praise silently awaits you, and vows will be paid to you.

³⁰ Let me praise the name of God with a song that I may magnify him with thanksgiving. ³¹ That will please the LORD more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.

¹¹ Let everyone who surrounds the LORD your God make a vow and fulfill it to the Awesome One.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his gracious love, and for his awesome deeds for mankind. ²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and talk about his works with shouts of joy.

¹² What will I return to the LORD for all his benefits to me? ¹³ I will raise my cup of deliverance and invoke the LORD’s name. ¹⁴ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

¹⁷ I will bring you a thanksgiving offering and call on the name of the LORD! ¹⁸ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,

¹ Praise for God’s Provision Hallelujah! It is good to sing praise to our God, and it is fitting to sing glorious praise.

⁴ Keep Your Promises to GodWhen you make a promise to God, don’t fail to keep it, since he isn’t pleased with fools. Keep what you promise— ⁵ it’s better that you don’t promise than that you do promise and not follow through.

² Bring a prepared speech with you as you return to the LORD. Say to him: ‘Take away all our iniquity, and accept what is good. Then we will present the fruit of our lips.

¹⁵ The Sure and Certain Deliverance of JudahLook! There on the mountains! The feet of the one who brings good news, who broadcasts a message of peace. Judah, celebrate your solemn festivals and keep your vows, because the wicked will never again invade you. Nineveh will be completely eliminated!

¹ Dedicate Your Lives to GodI therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.

¹⁸ In everything be thankful, because this is God’s will for you in the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁵ Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name.

⁵ you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹² But when he was in trouble, he sought the face of the LORD his God, humbled himself magnificently before the God of his ancestors, ¹³ and prayed to him. Moved by Manasseh’s entreaties, the LORD heard his supplications and brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. That’s how Manasseh learned that the LORD is God.

²⁷ You’ll entreat him and he’ll listen to you as you fulfill your vows.

²³ “All who fear the LORD, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify him! All the seed of Israel, fear him!

³ Magnify the LORD with me! Let us lift up his name together! ⁴ I sought the LORD and he answered me; he delivered me from all of my fears.

¹³ I will come to your house with burnt offerings. I will fulfill my vows to you ¹⁴ that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. ¹⁵ I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat, along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams. I will offer bulls along with goats. Interlude ¹⁶ Come and listen, all of you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. ¹⁷ I called aloud to him and praised him with my tongue. ¹⁸ Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not listen to me. ¹⁹ Surely God has heard, and he paid attention to my prayers. ²⁰ Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers nor his gracious love from me.

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; my hands were raised at night and they did not grow weary. I refused to be comforted.

⁷ In a time of need you called out and I delivered you; I answered you from the dark thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Interlude

¹⁵ When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in his distress. I will deliver him, and I will honor him.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. ⁷ He led them in a straight way to find a city where they could live. ⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his gracious love and his awesome deeds for mankind. ⁹ He has satisfied the one who thirsts, filling the hungry with what is good. ¹⁰ Some sat in deepest darkness, shackled with cruel iron, ¹¹ because they had rebelled against the command of God, despising the advice of the Most High. ¹² He humbled them through suffering, as they stumbled without a helper. ¹³ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he delivered them from their distress.

¹⁹ Yet when they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, he delivered them from certain destruction.

²⁸ Yet when they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, the LORD brought them out of their distress.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.”

¹⁵ But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?”

⁴⁴ In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like large drops of blood falling on the ground.

⁸ This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

²⁵ Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹³ The Power of PrayerIs anyone among you suffering? He should keep on praying. Is anyone cheerful? He should keep reciting psalms.

¹¹ Whoever speaks must speak God’s words. Whoever serves must serve with the strength that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah. Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah, you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.

¹⁴ The intimate counsel of the LORD is for those who fear him so they may know his covenant.

³⁶ But they deceived him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. ³⁷ For their hearts weren’t committed to him, and they weren’t faithful to his covenant. ³⁸ But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and didn’t destroy them; He restrained his anger and didn’t vent all his wrath.

⁷ Useless legs to the lame— that’s what a proverb quoted by a fool is.

¹¹ “How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?” the LORD is asking. “I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don’t enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. ¹² “When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts? ¹³ Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ As for your New Moons and your appointed festivals, I abhor them. They’ve become a burden to me; I’ve grown weary of carrying that burden. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray repeatedly, I won’t listen. Your hands are full of blood, your fingers drenched with iniquity.”

¹³ A Rebuke of Hypocritical WorshipThen the Lord said: “Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, worship of me has become merely like rules taught by human beings.

¹ God the Creator and Redeemer “Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from Judah’s loins; you who swear oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth, nor in good faith. ² For they name themselves after the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

²² “But there is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

⁶ Steps to Reconciliation“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, So he’ll have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he’ll pardon abundantly.

¹ False and True Worship “Shout aloud! Don’t hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their rebellions, and to the house of Jacob their sins. ² They seek me day after day, and are eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practices righteousness and has not forsaken the justice of their God. “They ask me to reveal just decisions; they are eager to draw near to God. ³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they ask, ‘but you do not see? ‘Why have we humbled ourselves,’ they ask, ‘but you take no notice?’”
Fasting that God Approves “Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest and oppress all your workers. ⁴ “Look! You fast only for quarreling, and for fighting, and for hitting with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice heard on high. ⁵ “Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen, merely a day for a person to humble himself? Is it merely for bowing down one’s head like a bulrush, for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, an acceptable day to the LORD? ⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have been choosing: to loose the bonds of injustice, and to untie the cords of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him with clothing, and not to raise yourself up from your own flesh and blood?”

⁴ Don’t trust deceptive words like these, and say, ‘The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD,’ ⁵ but rather, truly change your ways and your deeds. If you truly practice justice between each person and his neighbor, ⁶ and if you don’t oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and don’t shed an innocent person’s blood in this place, and if you don’t follow other gods to your own harm, ⁷ then I’ll let you dwell in this land, the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.

²⁷ When a wicked person quits his wicked behavior and does what’s just and right, he’ll be enabled to live.

³⁷ “I’ll cause you to pass under the rod until I will have brought you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ I’ll eliminate the rebels among you, along with those who are transgressing against me. I’ll bring them out of the land where you’ve lived, but they won’t be able to enter the land of Israel. Then you’ll know that I am the LORD.”

³ “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when the beam is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn’t we?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil!’”

²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

¹³ Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
¹⁵ But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”
¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised.

¹⁷ Who is a Jew?Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the Law, and boast about God, ¹⁸ and know his will, and approve of what is best because you have been instructed in the Law; ¹⁹ and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of ignorant people, and a teacher of infants because you have the full content of knowledge and truth in the Law— ²¹ as you teach others, do you fail to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² As you forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? As you abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ As you boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law? ²⁴ As it is written, “God’s name is being blasphemed among the gentiles because of you.”

²⁷ No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.

⁹ It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant, I ignored them, declares the Lord.

¹⁵ They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor’s son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong.

⁹ ‘Instead, you have done more evil than everyone who lived before you.‘You have gone out and crafted other gods for yourself.‘You made cast images.‘You have provoked me to anger.‘You have thrown me behind your back.

²⁶ “Then they disobeyed, rebelled against you, and threw your Law behind their backs. They murdered your prophets who had admonished the people to return to you, committing terrible blasphemies.

⁷ The Major ThemeThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

²⁸ “Then they will call out to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. ²⁹ “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD;

¹² and you will say, “How I hated instruction, and my heart rejected correction! ¹³ I did not obey my teachers and did not listen to my instructors.

³⁶ But whoever sins against me destroys himself; everyone who hates me loves death.”

¹ Wisdom and Wickedness Contrasted The person who loves correction loves knowledge, but anyone who hates a rebuke is stupid.

²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of justice!”

⁹ The wise men will be put to shame. They’ll be dismayed and taken captive. Look, they have rejected the message from the LORD! So what kind of wisdom do they have?

¹² But they’ll say, ‘It’s useless! We will follow our plans and each of us will pursue his own evil desires.’

²³ As Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut it with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire which was in the stove, until all the scroll was burned in the fire in the stove. ²⁴ The king and all his officials who were listening to these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ The king ordered his son Jerahmeel, Azriel’s son Seraiah, and Abdeel’s son Shelemiah to get Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD had hidden them.
²⁷ Jeremiah Rewrites the ScrollThis message from the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation: ²⁸ “Go back, take another scroll and write on it all the original words which were on the scroll that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, burned. ²⁹ Concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You burned this scroll, all the while saying, ‘Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon will definitely come, destroy this land, and eliminate both people and animals from it?’” ³⁰ Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, “He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be thrown out to rot during the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I’ll punish him, his descendants, and his officials for their iniquity. I’ll bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the calamity about which I’ve warned them, but they would not listen.”’”
³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Neriah’s son Baruch the scribe. He wrote on it, at Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. He also added to them many similar words.

²⁰ Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.

²⁸ Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done.

²¹ as you teach others, do you fail to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² As you forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? As you abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ As you boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?

¹⁰ and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. ¹¹ For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. ¹² Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.

³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.

¹⁰ Honoring the Seventh Commandment“If anyone commits adultery with another man’s wife, including when someone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress are to die.

⁹ No Adultery“If my heart has been seduced by a woman and I’ve laid in wait at my friend’s door, ¹⁰ then let my wife cook for another person and may someone else sleep with her, ¹¹ because something as lascivious as that is an iniquity that should be judged.

¹⁰ Avoid Evil CounselMy son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. ¹¹ If they say, “Come with us! Let’s lie in wait for blood; let’s ambush some innocent person for no reason at all. ¹² Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those who go down into the Pit. ¹³ We’ll find all kinds of valuable wealth, and we’ll fill our houses with spoil. ¹⁴ Throw your lot in with us, and all of us will have one purse.” ¹⁵ My son, do not go along with them, and keep your feet away from their paths! ¹⁶ For they run toward evil; these enticers shed blood without hesitation. ¹⁷ Look, it is useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds, ¹⁸ but these people lie in wait for their own blood. They ambush only themselves. ¹⁹ Such is the way of all those who seek illicit gain— it takes away the lives of those who possess it.

¹⁶ delivering you from the adulteress, from the immoral woman with her seductive words, ¹⁷ someone who abandoned the companion of her youth and forgot the covenant of her God. ¹⁸ For her house leads down to death, and her paths down to the realm of the dead. ¹⁹ None who go to her return, nor do they reach the paths of life.

¹⁹ because my husband isn’t home. He left on a long trip. ²⁰ He took a fist full of cash and he’ll return home in a month.” ²¹ She leads him astray with great persuasion; with flattering lips she seduces him. ²² All of a sudden he follows her like an ox fit for slaughter or like a fool fit for a trap ²³ until an arrow pierces his liver. As a bird darts into a snare, he doesn’t realize his fatal decision.

⁸ They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ “Should I not punish them for these things?” asks the LORD, “And on a nation like this, should I not seek retribution?”

³ And speaking of evil, they practice it eagerly—with both hands! Both leader and judge demand a bribe, the famous confess their perverted desires, and they scheme together.

³⁰ Then you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³² Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

¹¹ and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are. ¹² For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient people in secret. ¹³ But everything that is exposed to the light becomes visible,

²² Do not ordain anyone hastily. Do not participate in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

⁴ Let marriage be kept honorable in every way, and the marriage bed undefiled. For God will judge those who commit sexual sins, especially those who commit adultery.

⁹ But as for the wicked, they do not speak truth at all. Inside them there is only wickedness. Their throat is an open grave, on their tongue is deceitful flattery.

⁷ Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression, their tongues spread trouble and iniquity.

² Everyone speaks lies to his neighbor; they speak with flattering lips and hidden motives. ³ The LORD will cut off all slippery lips, and the tongue that boasts great things,

³ The words from his mouth are vain and deceptive. He has abandoned behaving wisely and doing good. ⁴ He devises iniquity on his bed and is determined to follow a path that is not good. He does not resist evil.

² Your tongue, like a sharp razor, devises wicked things and crafts treachery. ³ You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking uprightly. Interlude ⁴ You love all words that destroy, you deceitful tongue!

¹² For it is not an enemy who insults me— I could have handled that— nor is it someone who hates me and who now arises against me— I could have hidden myself from him—

²¹ His mouth is as smooth as butter, while war is in his heart. His words were as smooth as olive oil, while his sword is drawn.

³ who sharpen their tongues like swords, and aim their bitter words like arrows, ⁴ shooting at the innocent from concealment. Suddenly they shoot, fearing nothing. ⁵ They concoct an evil scheme for themselves; they enumerate their hidden snares; they say, “Who will see them?”

³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your tongue mutters wickedness. ⁴ No one brings a lawsuit fairly, and no one goes to law honestly; they have relied on empty arguments and they tell lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.

⁵ People deceive their friends, and they don’t tell the truth. They have taught their tongues to tell lies. They exhaust themselves practicing evil.

² Swearing, lying, murder, theft, and adultery are rampant, and blood mingles with blood.

¹³ Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips. ¹⁴ Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it can boast of great achievements. A huge forest can be set on fire by a little flame. ⁶ The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. Placed among the parts of our bodies, the tongue contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the course of life, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷ For all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be or have been tamed by humans, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in God’s likeness.

⁸ But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

¹⁶ Social Responsibility“You are not to go around slandering your people.
“You are not to stand idle when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the LORD.

¹⁸ Let the lying lips be made still, especially those who speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt.

¹⁸ Whoever conceals hatred is a deceitful liar, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹¹ “How blessed are you whenever people insult you, persecute you, and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me!

²¹ “Brother will hand brother over for execution, and a father his child. Children will rebel against parents and have them put to death.

⁶⁵ And they kept insulting him in many other ways.

¹¹ Their wives must also be serious. They must not be gossips, but instead be stable and trustworthy in everything.

³ Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness.

¹⁰ The Vision of the Cry of VictoryThen I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “Now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah have come. For the one who accuses our brothers, who accuses them day and night in the presence of our God, has been thrown out.

¹⁴ God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and then said, “Tell the Israelis: ‘I AM sent me to you.’”

¹⁹ God is not a human male— he doesn’t lie, nor is he a human being— he never vacillates. Once he speaks up, he’s going to act, isn’t he? Once he makes a promise, he’ll fulfill it, won’t he?

³ Our God has appeared and he has not been silent; a devouring fire blazed before him, and a mighty storm swirled around him.

⁸ I do not rebuke you because of your sacrifices; indeed, your burnt offerings are continuously before me.

¹¹ Then they say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you, what we have concealed in the light of your presence.

⁷ They say, “The LORD cannot see, and the God of Jacob will not notice.” ⁸ Pay attention, you dull ones among the crowds! You fools! Will you ever become wise? ⁹ The one who formed the ear can hear, can he not? The one who made the eyes can see, can he not? ¹⁰ The one who disciplines nations can rebuke them, can he not? The one who teaches mankind can discern, can he not? ¹¹ The LORD knows the thoughts of human beings— that they are futile.

¹ To the Director. A Davidic psalm.
A Prayer against the Evil One God, whom I praise, do not be silent, ² for the mouths of wicked and deceitful people are opened against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. ³ They surround me with hate-filled words, attacking me for no reason.

¹ Advice on Life and Justice After many rebukes, the stiff-necked man will be broken incurably, without any warning.

¹¹ The Wisdom of Fearing GodWhenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil. ¹² Even though a sinner does what is wrong a hundred times and still survives, nevertheless I also know that things will go well for those who fear God, who fear in his presence.

¹⁴ For God will judge every deed, along with every secret, whether good or evil.

¹⁰ If favor is shown to the wicked, they don’t learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they act perversely and do not perceive the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁵ “Look! The nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are reckoned as dust on the scales. Look! He even lifts up the islands like powder! ¹⁶ Lebanon would not provide enough fuel, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him— they are reckoned by him as nothing and chaos. ¹⁸ “To whom, then, will you compare me, the One who is God? Or to what image will you liken me?

¹⁴ “I have certainly stayed silent for a long time; I’ve kept still and held myself back. Now, like a woman giving birth, I’ll cry out. All of a sudden I’ll gasp and pant.

¹¹ “Whom did you so dread— and while you feared me— that you lied, and you did not remember me, and did not lay to heart these things? Haven’t I remained silent for a long time, and still you don’t fear me?”

⁷ “The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: I will never forget anything they have done.

⁴ Or are you unaware of his rich kindness, forbearance, and patience, that it is God’s kindness that is leading you to repent?
⁵ But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁵ Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to repent.

¹⁹ I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent!

¹⁸ You neglected the Rock that fathered you; you abandoned God, who was awaiting your birth.

⁴² They looked around, but there was no one to save them— they looked to the LORD, but he paid no attention!

¹³ Such are the paths of everyone who forgets God— the hope of the godless will be destroyed:

² Otherwise, they will rip me to shreds like a lion, tearing me apart with no one to rescue me.

¹⁷ The wicked will turn back to where the dead are— all the nations that have forgotten God.

⁴ With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks, “God will not seek justice.” He always presumes “There is no God.”

¹⁴ When times are good, be joyful; when times are bad, consider this: God made the one as well as the other, so people won’t seek anything outside of his best.

¹³ As a result, you have forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, and you live in constant fear every day because of the oppressor’s fury, since he’s ready to destroy. Now where is the oppressor’s fury?

³² Will a young woman forget her wedding ornaments, or a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.

²⁸ Because he reconsidered his transgression and turned away from everything that he had been doing, he’ll certainly live and not die.

⁶ My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge of me. Because you rejected that knowledge, I will reject you as a priest for me. Since you forget the Law of your God, I will also forget your children.

¹⁴ Therefore I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I—even I—will tear them to pieces, and then I will leave. I will take them away, and there will be no rescue.

⁸ I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their ribs. I will devour them like a lion— the wild beasts will rip them apart.

¹⁴ So the swift runner will not escape, the valiant will not fortify his strength, and the mighty warrior will not save his life.

⁸ The survivors of Jacob will live among the nations; they will live among many peoples, like a lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, will trample and tear down with no one to deliver.

⁵ Consequences of Not Rebuilding“Now this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, says: ‘Carefully consider your ways:

¹⁷ “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!

¹⁶ They told the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to endure it?”

⁴ The one who has innocent hands and a pure heart; the person who does not delight in what is false and does not swear an oath deceitfully. ⁵ This person will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

¹⁴ Offer to God a thanksgiving praise; pay your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

⁹ Surely, he will soon deliver those who fear him, for his glory will live in our land.

¹³ Righteousness will go before him to prepare a path for his steps.

⁹ All the nations that you have established will come and worship you, my Lord. They will honor your name.

¹² I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole being; and I will honor your name continuously.

¹⁶ I will satisfy him with long life; I will show him my deliverance.

² “Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won’t be put to shame or disgraced ever again.”

⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

⁵ my deliverance near; my salvation is on the way. His arm will bring justice to the nations; the coastlands will hope for him, and they will wait for his arm. ⁶ “Lift up your eyes, you heavens and look to the earth beneath; and see who created these. Its inhabitants will die just like this; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never fail.

³⁰ because my eyes have seen your salvation,

¹⁷ If anyone wants to do his will, he’ll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I’m speaking on my own.

³¹ Freedom and SlaverySo Jesus told those Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

² He was a devout man who feared God, as did everyone in his home. He gave many gifts to the poor among the people and always prayed to God.
³ One day, about three in the afternoon, he had a vision and clearly saw an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
⁴ He stared at the angel in terror and asked, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel answered him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have arisen as a reminder to God.

¹⁴ He will discuss with you how you and your entire household will be saved.’

²⁶ “My brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

⁶ so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

²⁴ So they kept glorifying God for what had happened to me.

¹⁶ Now may peace be on all those who live by this principle, and may mercy be on the Israel of God.

²⁷ Standing Firm in One SpiritThe only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you—that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

¹³ Live WiselyWho among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his noble conduct that his actions are done humbly and wisely.

¹⁵ Instead, be holy in every aspect of your life, just as the one who called you is holy.