1 Kings 22 Cross References - LEB

¹ They lived three years, and there was no war between Aram and Israel. ² It happened in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to the king of Israel, ³ and the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we are doing nothing about taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?" ⁴ Then he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to the battle for Ramoth-Gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "_⌊I am like you_⌋;* _⌊my people are like your people_⌋;* _⌊my horses are like your horses_⌋."* ⁵ Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire for the word of Yahweh today." ⁶ Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?" Then they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." ⁷ So Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might still inquire from him?" ⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so." ⁹ The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah." ¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'" ¹² All of the prophets were likewise prophesying, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are _⌊unanimously_⌋* favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably." ¹⁴ Then Micaiah said, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak." ¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹⁶ Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me anything but truth in the name of Yahweh?" ¹⁷ So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'" ¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?" ¹⁹ And he* said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand. ²⁰ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then _⌊this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another_⌋.* ²¹ Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him,' and Yahweh said to him, 'How?' ²² He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he* said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.' ²³ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you." ²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, "When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?" ²⁵ Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you are about to see on that day when you go _⌊from room to room_⌋* to hide." ²⁶ The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king; ²⁷ and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this fellow in the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace." '" ²⁸ Then Micaiah said, "If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Let all the peoples hear!" ²⁹ Then the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-Gilead. ³⁰ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you wear your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and he went into the battle. ³¹ The king of Aram commanded his thirty-two chariot commanders, saying, "You shall not fight with small or great, but only against the king of Israel, him alone!" ³² When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely he is the king of Israel," and they turned to fight against him, so Jehoshaphat called out. ³³ When the chariot commanders saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. ³⁴ But another man drew his bow fully and struck the king of Israel between the armor scales and the breastplate; so he said to his chariot driver, "Turn _⌊the chariot_⌋* and bring me out from the camp, for I am wounded." ³⁵ The battle intensified on that day, and the king was being propped up in the chariot opposite Aram, but he died in the evening, and the blood of the wound ran out to the floor of the chariot. ³⁶ Then the shout passed through the camp about sunset, saying, "Each man to his city and each to his land!" ³⁷ So the king died, and _⌊they brought him_⌋* to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood (now, the prostitutes washed themselves there) according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken. ³⁹ The remainder of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory palace and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his ancestors,* and Ahaziah his son became king in his place. ⁴¹ Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ He walked in all of the way of Asa his father, and he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the eyes of Yahweh.* Only he did not remove the high places; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. ⁴⁴ * But, Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. ⁴⁵ The remainder of the acts of Jehoshaphat, his powerful deeds he did, and how he fought, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ The remainder of the male shrine prostitutes who were left over in the days of Asa his father he exterminated from the land. ⁴⁷ There was not a king in Edom; a governor served as king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built* ships of the Tarshish type to go to Ophir for the gold; but he did not go because the ships were destroyed at Ezion-Geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships," but Jehoshaphat was not willing. ⁵⁰ And Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors* and was buried with his ancestors* in the city of David his ancestor,* and Joram his son became king in his place. ⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ⁵² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he went in the way of his father and his mother and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin. ⁵³ He served Baal and bowed down to him; and he provoked Yahweh the God of Israel according to all that his father did.

³⁴ Ben-Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "_⌊On these terms_⌋* I will let you go," So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

²⁴ Asa slept with his ancestors* and was buried with his ancestors* in the city of David his ancestor;* Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

¹ They lived three years, and there was no war between Aram and Israel.

⁴¹ Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

⁴⁴ * But, Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife, and he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

¹ Now Jehoshaphat had much wealth and honor, and he became son-in-law to Ahab. ² And _⌊after some years_⌋* he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and for the people who were with him, and urged him to go up against Ramoth-Gilead. ³ And Ahab the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "Will you go up with me to Ramoth-Gilead?" And he answered him, "I am as you are, and my people are as your people with you in war." ⁴ Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Seek _⌊first of all_⌋* the word of Yahweh." ⁵ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we cease?" And they said, "Go up, since God will give it into the hand of the king." ⁶ Then Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here another prophet of Yahweh that we might inquire of him?" ⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom to seek Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but _⌊always_⌋* disaster. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say thus." ⁸ Then the king of Israel called to a eunuch and said, "Quickly bring Micaiah the son of Imlah." ⁹ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, clothed in robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you will gore Aram* to their destruction.'" ¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied thus, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph! Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹² Then the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets are good with one voice to the king. Please let your word be as one with them and speak good." ¹³ But Micaiah said, "As Yahweh lives, only what my God has said, that will I speak." ¹⁴ And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to war or shall I cease?" And he said, "Go up and triumph! They shall be given into your hand." ¹⁵ But the king said to him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you speak nothing except the truth in the name of Yahweh?" ¹⁶ Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that had no shepherd. And Yahweh said, 'These have no masters; let them return to his own house in peace.'" ¹⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?" ¹⁸ Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting upon his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel that he would go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this, and another said that. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Then Yahweh said to him, 'By what means?' ²¹ Then he said, 'I will go forth and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You will entice him and will also succeed. Go out and do so.' ²² So now, behold, Yahweh has put a spirit of deception into the mouths of these your prophets. Yahweh has spoken disaster against you." ²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "_⌊Which way_⌋* did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?" ²⁴ Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day when you go into a private room to hide yourself." ²⁵ Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king, ²⁶ and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this one into the prison house, and let him eat _⌊a meager ration of bread and water_⌋* until I return in peace." '" ²⁷ And Micaiah said, "If you surely return in peace Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Hear, peoples, all of them!"

⁴⁰ For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.

⁴³ He set apart Bezer in the wilderness* in the land of the plateau of the Reubenites;* Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites,* and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.*

⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

³⁸ From the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands,

² The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here," so they surrounded the place and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, "We will wait until the morning light, and then we will kill him."

¹⁰ Now Absalom whom we anointed as king over us has died in the battle; so then, why are you taking no action to restore the king?"

¹³ Ben-Geber was in Ramoth-Gilead; the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh which are in the Gilead were his, and the region of Argob which is in the Bashan, sixty great cities, with walls having crossbars of bronze, were his.

⁷ He went and sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab for the battle?" And he said, "I will go up. _⌊I am like you_⌋;* _⌊my people are like your people_⌋;* _⌊my horses are like your horses_⌋."*

³ And Ahab the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "Will you go up with me to Ramoth-Gilead?" And he answered him, "I am as you are, and my people are as your people with you in war."

² And Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. And he said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you be a help to the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh? On account of this, wrath has come against you from Yahweh.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? ²² I hate them with a complete hatred; they have become my enemies.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and be wise, but as for the companion of fools, he will suffer harm.

³³ Do not be deceived! "Bad company corrupts good morals."*

¹⁶ And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said,
"I will live in* them and will walk about among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people."* ¹⁷ Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean,* and I will welcome you,*

¹¹ And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose them.

¹¹ because the one who speaks a greeting to him shares in his evil deeds.

²⁶ And the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations,

²¹ He will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will ask for him by the decision* of the Urim before Yahweh. On _⌊his command_⌋* they will go out, and at _⌊his command_⌋* they will come in, both he and all of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* with him, the entire community."

¹⁴ So the leaders* took from their provisions, but _⌊they did not ask direction from Yahweh_⌋.*

¹ After the death of Joshua, the _⌊Israelites_⌋* inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites* to fight against them?"

¹⁸ Then the _⌊Israelites_⌋* got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, "Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants* of Benjamin?" And Yahweh said, "Judah will go first."

²³ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants* of Benjamin, our relatives?"* And Yahweh said, "Go up against them."*

²⁹ So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah.

¹⁸ Then Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring near the ark of God"* (for the ark of God was _⌊at that time_⌋* with the _⌊Israelites_⌋).*

² So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And Yahweh said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save* Keilah."

⁴ So David again inquired of Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him and said, "Get up, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand."

⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." ¹⁰ And David said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. ¹¹ Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Yahweh, God of Israel, please tell your servant!" And Yahweh said, "He will come down." ¹² Then David said, "Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And Yahweh said, "They will deliver you."

⁸ And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?" He said to him, "Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them."

³ Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and speak to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?'

¹¹ Then Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might inquire guidance from Yahweh?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."*

¹³ So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek guidance.

⁴ Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Seek _⌊first of all_⌋* the word of Yahweh." ⁵ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we cease?" And they said, "Go up, since God will give it into the hand of the king."

⁵ _⌊Trust Yahweh_⌋* with all your heart; do not lean toward your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will straighten your paths.

² "Please inquire of Yahweh on behalf of us, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps Yahweh will do with us according to all his miraculous acts, so that he may go up from against us."

² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "May our plea please fall _⌊before you_⌋,* and pray for us to Yahweh your God, for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes are seeing us. ³ And let Yahweh your God inform us the way in which we should go and the thing that we should do." ⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard. Look, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God according to your words, _⌊and then_⌋* all the words* that Yahweh answers you I will tell you; I will not withhold from you a word." ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, "May Yahweh be against us as _⌊a true and faithful witness_⌋* if we do not do according to all the words* that Yahweh sends you for us. ⁶ Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God."

³ "Son of man,* these men took up their idols into their heart and _⌊they placed before themselves_⌋* a stumbling block of their guilt.* _⌊Should I really let myself be consulted by them_⌋?*

¹ And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat _⌊before me_⌋.* ² And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ³ "Son of man,* speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Are you coming to consult me? _⌊As I live_⌋,* I will surely not allow myself* to be consulted by you!" ' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁹ So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel."

¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king."

²² He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he* said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.' ²³ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you."

¹⁴ And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to war or shall I cease?" And he said, "Go up and triumph! They shall be given into your hand."

³¹ The prophets prophesy _⌊falsely_⌋,* and the priests rule _⌊by their own authority_⌋,* and my people love it* so much. But what will you do _⌊when the end comes_⌋?*

¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit. ¹¹ And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

¹³ Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets are saying to them, 'You will not see the sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'" ¹⁴ And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies* in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their _⌊minds_⌋."*

¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,* and they make strong the hands of evildoers, so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah." ¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets,
"Look, I am going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land." ¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
"You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you with visions of their _⌊mind_⌋,* They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh. ¹⁷ They are* continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, 'Peace it will be to you,' and to _⌊each one_⌋* who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, 'Calamity will not come upon you.'

¹ And it was in that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the prophet who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of Yahweh before the eyes of the priests and all the people, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ _⌊Within two years_⌋* I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and brought to Babylon. ⁴ And Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the exiles* from Judah who went to Babylon, I will bring back to this place,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'" ⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet before the eyes of the priests and before the eyes of all the people who were standing in the house of Yahweh, ⁶ and Jeremiah the prophet said, "Amen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh fulfill your words that you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles* from Babylon to this place. ⁷ Nevertheless listen please to this word that I am speaking in your _⌊hearing_⌋* and in the _⌊hearing_⌋* of all the people, ⁸ The prophets who were _⌊before_⌋* me and _⌊before_⌋* you from ancient times prophesied against many countries and against great kingdoms of war, and of disaster, and of plague. ⁹ The prophet who prophesies peace, at the coming of the word of the prophet, will become known as the prophet that Yahweh has _⌊truly_⌋* sent."

⁷ Have you not seen _⌊a false vision_⌋* and spoken a _⌊lying divination_⌋,* and you said, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' but _⌊I myself did not speak_⌋.* ⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ⁹ "And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into* the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁰ Because, yes, because they led my people astray, _⌊saying_⌋* 'Peace!' And there is not peace. And when anyone* builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. ¹¹ Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be _⌊a torrent of rain_⌋,* and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! * And a _⌊windstorm_⌋* will burst forth! ¹² And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?' ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And so I will let burst forth a _⌊windstorm_⌋* in my rage, and _⌊there will be a torrent of rain_⌋* in my anger, and hailstones in my rage _⌊for complete destruction_⌋.* ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! ¹⁵ And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, "_⌊The wall is no more_⌋,* and _⌊the people covering it are no more_⌋,* ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²² Because you disheartened the heart of the righteous by deception, and I have not* caused him pain, and strengthened the hands of the wicked so that he did not turn* from his wicked way to save his life.

¹⁵ "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves.

³ For there will be a time when they will not put up with sound teaching, but in accordance with their own desires, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, _⌊because they have an insatiable curiosity_⌋*,

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in _⌊destructive heresies_⌋*, even denying the Master who bought them, thus* bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled. ³ And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.

¹¹ Then Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might inquire guidance from Yahweh?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."* ¹² Jehoshaphat said, "The word of Yahweh is with him." So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "_⌊What do we have in common_⌋?* Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." Then the king of Israel said to him, "No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."

⁶ Then Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here another prophet of Yahweh that we might inquire of him?" ⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom to seek Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but _⌊always_⌋* disaster. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say thus."

⁸ Then his brothers said to him, "Will you really rule over us?" And _⌊they hated him even more_⌋* on account of his dream and because of his words.

⁴ It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them _⌊by fifties_⌋* in the cave and sustained them with food and water.)

¹⁰ Then he said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of hosts, for the _⌊Israelites_⌋* have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life.

¹⁴ He said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of Hosts, for the _⌊Israelites_⌋* have forsaken your covenant, demolished your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword; I alone am left, and they seek to take my life!"

³⁵ A certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his fellow countryman, "By the word of Yahweh, please strike me." But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you." When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and _⌊waited_⌋* for the king along the road and disguised himself with a* headband over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ It happened that your servant _⌊was busy here and there_⌋,* and he _⌊disappeared_⌋."* Then the king said to him, "Your own judgment has been determined." ⁴¹ He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. ⁴² He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from your hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'" ⁴³ Then the king of Israel went to his house, sullen and angry, and he came to Samaria.

²⁰ Then Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He said, "I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his flesh, fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly. ²⁸ Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days. I will bring the disaster on his house in the days of his son."

¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are _⌊unanimously_⌋* favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably."

²⁷ and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this fellow in the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace." '"

²² When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Is it peace?" And he said, "What peace is there while the prostitutions of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are numerous?"

¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will incur guilt.

¹² and say "How I hated discipline, and I despised reproof!" ¹³ and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and I did not incline my ear to my instructors! ¹⁴ I was almost at utter* ruin* in the midst of the assembly and congregation."

⁸ Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke the wise and he will love you.

¹² A scoffer does not like _⌊his rebuke_⌋;* to the wise he will not go.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked!* It is bad! For what is done by his hands will be done to him.

¹⁰ who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions,

⁷ Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,
to the one who despises* life, to the one who abhors the nation, to the slave of rulers: "Kings shall see and stand up; princes, and they shall bow down, for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful, the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you."

¹⁹ creating fruit of lips. Peace, peace to the far and near," says Yahweh, "and I will heal him. ²⁰ But* the wicked are like the churning sea, that is not able to keep quiet, and its waters toss up mire and mud. ²¹ There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

¹⁸ Then they said, "Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from the priest, nor advice from the wise man, nor the word from the prophet. Come and _⌊let us bring charges against him_⌋,* and let us not listen attentively to any of his words."

¹⁰ For I hear the rumor of many, "Terror is from all around, denounce him,* yes, let us denounce him!" _⌊All my close friends_⌋* are watchers of my stumbling, saying, "perhaps he can be persuaded, and we can prevail over him, and we can take our revenge on him."

⁴ Then the officials said to the king, "Please, this man must be killed, _⌊because_⌋* he is making slack the hands of _⌊the soldiers_⌋* who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man is not seeking for welfare* to this people, _⌊but only_⌋* for harm."

³ But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to kill us and to deport us to Babylon." ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies, and all the people did not listen* to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah.

¹⁰ They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly.

⁷ Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Is the patience* of Yahweh shortened? Are these his deeds? Are my words not pleasing to him who walks upright?

¹¹ If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies, saying "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," then he would be a preacher for this people!

⁸ And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for _⌊I grew impatient_⌋* with them, and _⌊they also became tired of me_⌋.*

²² and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved.

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed. ²¹ But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, in order that his deeds may be revealed, that they are done in God.

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated* you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

¹⁶ So then, have I become your enemy by* being truthful to you?

⁷ And when they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war with them and will conquer them and will kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And those from peoples and tribes and languages and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

²⁶ The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king; ²⁷ and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this fellow in the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace." '"

³² When he lifted up his face to the window, he asked, "Who is with me?" Two or three eunuchs looked down to him.

⁸ Then the king of Israel called to a eunuch and said, "Quickly bring Micaiah the son of Imlah."

⁷ 'And some of your sons who go out from you, whom you fathered, shall be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

¹⁸ And at the end of the time the king had set to bring them, the commander of the court officials brought them in _⌊before_⌋* Nebuchadnezzar.

²⁹ It happened as noon passed, they raged until the time of the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no one paid attention.

⁶ Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?" Then they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."

³⁰ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you wear your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and he went into the battle.

⁹ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, clothed in robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you will gore Aram* to their destruction.'" ¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied thus, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph! Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king."

¹ And it happened, on the third day, and Esther put on royal clothes, and she stood in the inner courtyard of the _⌊king's palace_⌋,* opposite the _⌊king's palace_⌋;* the king was sitting on his royal throne in the _⌊throne room_⌋* opposite the doorway of the palace.

⁸ let them bring _⌊royal clothing_⌋* with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal head-dress has been given. ⁹ And let the clothing and the horse be given _⌊to the man_⌋* by the officials of the king's nobles; let them cloth the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him ride on his horse through the public square of the city, and let them proclaim before him, 'Thus, it will be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.'"

¹⁴ And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "but they are prophesying in my name _⌊falsely_⌋,* so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you." ¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Thus says Yahweh, 'You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon", for they are prophesying a lie to you.

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Son of man,* prophesy to* the prophets of Israel _⌊who are prophesying_⌋,* and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own _⌊imagination_⌋,* 'Hear the word of Yahweh!' ³ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, _⌊and they did not see anything_⌋!* ⁴ Your prophets have been like foxes* among ruins. ⁵ You did not go up into* the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. ⁶ They saw falseness and _⌊a lying divination_⌋,* the ones saying, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait _⌊for the confirmation of their word_⌋.* ⁷ Have you not seen _⌊a false vision_⌋* and spoken a _⌊lying divination_⌋,* and you said, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' but _⌊I myself did not speak_⌋.* ⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ⁹ "And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into* the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor consuming insect* destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal.

⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of kings.

²¹ So on an appointed day Herod, after* putting on royal clothing and sitting down on the judgment seat, began to deliver a public address to them.

²³ So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pageantry and entered into the audience hall, along with military tribunes and the most prominent men of the city. And when* Festus gave the order, Paul was brought in.

¹⁷ As the firstborn of his ox, majesty _⌊belongs to him_⌋,* and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he drives people together,* and they are the myriads of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh."

¹⁷ They are* continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, 'Peace it will be to you,' and to _⌊each one_⌋* who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, 'Calamity will not come upon you.'

²⁵ "I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies* have said in my name, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have dreamed! I have dreamed!'

³¹ Look, I am against the prophets," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "who take their tongues* and declare as prophets, 'Yahweh _⌊declares_⌋.'*

² thus said Yahweh to me—"Make for yourself fetters and yokes and put them on your neck,

² "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ _⌊Within two years_⌋* I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and brought to Babylon.

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananiah said before the eyes of all the people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Thus says Yahweh, 'This is how I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, _⌊within two years_⌋,* from the neck of all the nations.'" And Jeremiah the prophet went on his way. ¹² And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet broke the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, _⌊saying_⌋,* ¹³ "Go, and you must say to Hananiah, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Thus says Yahweh, "You have broken yoke bars of wood, but you have made in place of them yoke bars of iron." ¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and they will serve him, and I have even given the animals* of the open field to him." '"

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, 'Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes.

²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. ²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken.

¹¹ Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "Is not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us."

¹⁸ * And I _⌊looked up_⌋* and I saw, and look, there were four horns! ¹⁹ And I said to the angel who was talking with me, "What are these?" And he said to me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." ²⁰ Then Yahweh showed me four skilled craftsmen, ²¹ and I asked, "What are these coming to do?" And he answered, saying, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, _⌊so that no man_⌋* lifted up his head; but these have come to frighten them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted a horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."

¹³ But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!" ¹⁴ (Now seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.) ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered and* said to them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are you?" ¹⁶ And the man _⌊who had the evil spirit_⌋* leaped on them, subdued all of them, and* prevailed against them, so that they ran away from that house naked and wounded.

¹³ For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

⁸ And _⌊just as_⌋* Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these oppose the truth, people corrupted in mind, disqualified concerning the faith.

⁶ Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?" Then they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." ⁷ So Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might still inquire from him?" ⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so." ⁹ The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah." ¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'" ¹² All of the prophets were likewise prophesying, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are _⌊unanimously_⌋* favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably." ¹⁴ Then Micaiah said, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak." ¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king."

³² When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely he is the king of Israel," and they turned to fight against him, so Jehoshaphat called out. ³³ When the chariot commanders saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. ³⁴ But another man drew his bow fully and struck the king of Israel between the armor scales and the breastplate; so he said to his chariot driver, "Turn _⌊the chariot_⌋* and bring me out from the camp, for I am wounded." ³⁵ The battle intensified on that day, and the king was being propped up in the chariot opposite Aram, but he died in the evening, and the blood of the wound ran out to the floor of the chariot. ³⁶ Then the shout passed through the camp about sunset, saying, "Each man to his city and each to his land!"

²² But Josiah did not turn his face from him, but he disguised himself to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and he went out to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

¹¹ He says in his heart, "God has forgotten. He has hidden his face. He never sees."

¹ For the music director. Of David.*
In Yahweh I have taken refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee to your mountain like a bird"?

¹ For the music director. Of David.*
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good.

²¹ These things you have done, and I have been silent; You imagined that I was just like you. I will rebuke you and present an argument before your eyes.

¹⁰ who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions, ¹¹ turn aside from the way, turn aside from the path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face."

³ By their wickedness they make the king glad, and the officials by their treacheries.

¹³ But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this is a sanctuary of a king and this is a temple of a kingdom." ¹⁴ And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees. ¹⁵ And Yahweh took me from following behind the sheep and goats and Yahweh said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel! ¹⁶ And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, 'You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!' ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you* will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

⁶ "Do not preach!" they are preaching. They should not preach to these; disgrace will not overtake us. ⁷ Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Is the patience* of Yahweh shortened? Are these his deeds? Are my words not pleasing to him who walks upright?

¹⁴ But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ Now the spiritual person discerns all things, but he himself is judged by no one. ¹⁶ "For who has known the mind of the Lord; who has advised him?"* But we have the mind of Christ.

¹⁸ Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Even though Balak gives to me his house full of silver and gold, I am not able to go beyond _⌊the command of Yahweh_⌋* my God to do a little or a lot.

³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I came to you now. Am I really able to speak anything at all? I speak the word that God puts in my mouth."

¹³ 'If Balak gave to me the fullness of his house full of silver and gold, I am not able to go beyond _⌊the command of Yahweh_⌋* to do good or evil, from my heart; what Yahweh speaks, I will speak'?*

¹⁰ _⌊As Yahweh your God lives_⌋,* surely there is not a nation or a kingdom to which my lord has not sent me to seek you. If they would say, 'He is not here,' then he would make the kingdom or the nation swear that it could not find you.

¹⁵ Elijah said, "_⌊As Yahweh of hosts lives_⌋,* before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to him today."

¹² Then the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets are good with one voice to the king. Please let your word be as one with them and speak good." ¹³ But Micaiah said, "As Yahweh lives, only what my God has said, that will I speak."

²⁸ The prophet who has with him a dream, let him tell the dream. But the prophet* who has my word with him, let him speak my word faithfully. _⌊What is straw compared to wheat_⌋?"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

² "Thus says Yahweh: 'Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship in the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word. ³ Perhaps they will listen and turn back each from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster that I am planning to do to them because of their evil deeds.

⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard. Look, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God according to your words, _⌊and then_⌋* all the words* that Yahweh answers you I will tell you; I will not withhold from you a word."

⁴ And the children* are _⌊impudent_⌋* and _⌊stubborn_⌋,* and so I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' ⁵ And they, whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst. ⁶ And you, son of man,* you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because* briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their _⌊looks_⌋,* for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious. ⁸ And you, son of man,* hear what I am speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you."

¹⁷ "Son of man,* I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. ¹⁸ _⌊When I say_⌋* to the wicked, 'Surely you will die,' and you do not warn him and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way _⌊so that he may live_⌋,* that wicked person will die because of his guilt, and from your hand I will seek his blood. ¹⁹ And you, if you do warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.*

²⁶ Therefore I testify to you on this very day that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you,* ²⁷ for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God.

¹⁷ For we are not like the majority who peddle the word of God, but as from pure motives—but as from God—we speak before God in Christ.

² but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person's conscience before God.

¹⁰ For am I now making an appeal to people or to God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your trouble."

²⁷ It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or _⌊is using the bathroom_⌋,* or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!"

¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "_⌊What do we have in common_⌋?* Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." Then the king of Israel said to him, "No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."

⁹ Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth! Follow the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes— but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.

⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

²⁶ And Joshua swore at that time, saying, "Cursed is anyone before Yahweh who gets up and builds Jericho, this city. At the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."

²⁴ Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats any food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the army tasted any food.

¹⁵ But the king said to him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you speak nothing except the truth in the name of Yahweh?"

¹⁶ And they sent their disciples to him with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and _⌊you do not care what anyone thinks_⌋,* _⌊because you do not regard the opinion of people_⌋.* ¹⁷ Therefore tell us what you think. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

⁶³ But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, "I put you under oath by the living God, that you tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!"

⁷ And crying out with a loud voice he said, "_⌊What have I to do with you_⌋*, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me!"

¹³ But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

¹⁷ who will go out before them and will come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so the community of Yahweh will not be like a flock that does not have a shepherd."

⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: "Come, let us go up to the seer." For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.)

¹⁶ Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that had no shepherd. And Yahweh said, 'These have no masters; let them return to his own house in peace.'" ¹⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?"

¹¹ And the word of Yahweh came to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* "What are you seeing, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I am seeing a branch of an almond tree." ¹² Then Yahweh said to me, "You did well to see, for I am watching over my word to perform it." ¹³ And the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, _⌊saying_⌋,* "What are you seeing?" And I said, "I am seeing a _⌊boiling_⌋* pot, and its face is from the face of the north." ¹⁴ Then Yahweh said to me, "From the north disaster will be unleashed* on all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵ For, look, I am calling to all the clans* of the kingdoms of the north," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and they will come and set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶ And I will pass* my judgments on them because of all their wickedness in that they have forsaken me, and they made sacrifices to other gods, and they bowed in worship to the works of their hands.

¹ "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ² _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I will punish you for the evil of your deeds," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁶ My people have become lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They led them away to the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their resting place.

¹⁷ Israel is a sheep scattered, lions drove them away. The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria, and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones."

⁴ And I looked,* and look! A storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around and _⌊within it_⌋,* and from its midst* it was like the outward appearance of amber stone from the midst* of the fire.

⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and _⌊with respect to_⌋* the hurt* you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force* and with ruthlessness. ⁵ And they were scattered _⌊without_⌋* a shepherd, and they were* as food for all the animals* of the field when they were scattered. ⁶ My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world* my flock were scattered, and _⌊there was no one seeking them_⌋,* and _⌊there was no one searching for them_⌋."*

² Because the household gods* speak deceit, and those who practice divination see a lie, and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep;* they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.

⁷ "O sword, awake against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, so that the sheep* may be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the small ones.

³⁶ And when he* saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were weary and dejected, like sheep that did not have a shepherd.

¹¹ And he saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down to the earth by its four corners, ¹² in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky. ¹³ And a voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!" ¹⁴ But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common and unclean!" ¹⁵ And the voice came again to him for the second time: "The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!" ¹⁶ And this happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. ¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate.

⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so."

²⁴ The dread of the wicked will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²² If you crush a fool in the mortar with the pestle _⌊along with_⌋* the crushed grain, it will not drive folly from upon him.

¹ A man who is reproved, being stubborn of neck— suddenly he will be broken, and there will not be healing.

⁴⁵ And one of the legal experts answered and* said to him, "Teacher, when you* say these things, you insult us also!"

¹⁸ Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting upon his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel that he would go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this, and another said that. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Then Yahweh said to him, 'By what means?' ²¹ Then he said, 'I will go forth and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You will entice him and will also succeed. Go out and do so.' ²² So now, behold, Yahweh has put a spirit of deception into the mouths of these your prophets. Yahweh has spoken disaster against you."

⁶ And it happened _⌊one day_⌋* _⌊that_⌋* the sons of God* came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan* also came into their midst.

¹ _⌊And then_⌋* one day the sons of God* came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan* also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.

²⁰ Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty heroes who do his word by _⌊obeying_⌋* the sound of his word. ²¹ Bless Yahweh, all you his hosts, you his attendants who do his will.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah!

¹ In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe was filling the temple. ² Seraphs were standing above him. _⌊Each had six wings_⌋:* with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And the one called to the other and said,
"Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The _⌊whole earth is full of his glory_⌋."*

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery, rulers of these people in Jerusalem:

⁴ Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the clans* of the house of Israel.

²⁰ And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles* whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁵ then _⌊therefore_⌋* hear the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "_⌊If you are determined_⌋* to go to Egypt, and you go to dwell as aliens there,

²⁶ And from above the expanse that was above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, _⌊looking like a sapphire_⌋,* and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness similar to* the appearance of a human on it, but _⌊above it_⌋.* ²⁷ And I saw something like the outward appearance of amber, something like the appearance of fire, with a covering around it, from the likeness of his loins and _⌊upward_⌋.* And from the likeness of his loins and _⌊downward_⌋* I saw something like the appearance of fire, and _⌊it was radiant all around_⌋.* ²⁸ Like the appearance* of a bow that is in the cloud on _⌊a rainy day_⌋,* such was the radiance* around it; thus was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

² "Son of man,* prophesy to* the prophets of Israel _⌊who are prophesying_⌋,* and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own _⌊imagination_⌋,* 'Hear the word of Yahweh!'

⁹ "_⌊I continued watching_⌋* until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing was like white snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool and his throne was a flame* of fire and its wheels* were burning fire. ¹⁰ A stream of fire issued forth and flowed _⌊from his presence_⌋;* thousands upon thousands served him and ten thousand upon ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and the books were opened.

¹⁶ And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, 'You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!'

¹⁰ And the man standing between the myrtle shrubs answered and said, "These are those whom Yahweh has sent to patrol* the earth."

¹⁰ "See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven constantly see the face of my Father who is in heaven.*

³¹ Now when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and* saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

⁷ And concerning the angels he says,
"The one who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire,"*

¹⁴ Are they not all spirits engaged in special service, sent on assignment for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering

² Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one was seated on the throne. ³ And the one seated was similar in appearance to jasper and carnelian stone, and a rainbow was around the throne similar in appearance to emerald.

¹¹ And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and their number was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands times thousands,

¹⁶ "Strength and sound wisdom are with him; the deceived and the deceiver are his.*

¹⁰ Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'It will be peace for you,' while the sword reaches up to the throat."

⁹ And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

²³ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you."

⁶ And it happened _⌊one day_⌋* _⌊that_⌋* the sons of God* came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan* also came into their midst. ⁷ So* Yahweh said to Satan,* "From where have you come?"
Then* Satan* answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

²³ And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem, and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him.

¹⁰ _⌊On_⌋* the next day, the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. Now David was playing the lyre with his hand on that day _⌊as usual_⌋,* and the spear was in Saul's hand.

⁹ Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing a stringed instrument in his hand.

²⁰ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then _⌊this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another_⌋.*

⁸ So* Yahweh said to Satan,* "Have you _⌊considered_⌋* my servant Job? Indeed,* there is no one like him on the earth—a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil." ⁹ Then* Satan* answered Yahweh and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have you* not put a fence around him and his household and around _⌊all that belongs to him_⌋* _⌊on every side_⌋?* You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock* has increased in the land. ¹¹ But,* on the other hand, stretch out* your hand and touch _⌊all that belongs to him_⌋* and see _⌊whether_⌋* he will _⌊curse_⌋* you to your face."

⁴ Then* Satan* answered him and said, "Skin for skin! All that _⌊that_⌋* man has he will give for his life. ⁵ But stretch out* your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and see _⌊whether_⌋* he will _⌊curse_⌋* you to your face."* ⁶ So* Yahweh said to Satan,* "_⌊All right_⌋,* he is in your _⌊power_⌋.* Only spare his life."

¹⁷ Because he loved cursing, let it come upon him. Because he did not delight in blessing, let it be far from him.

⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own nature,* because he is a liar and the father _⌊of lies_⌋.*

³ But Peter said, "Ananias, for what reason has Satan filled your heart, that you lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourself some of the proceeds of the piece of land? ⁴ When it* remained to you, did it not remain yours? And when it* was sold, was it at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people, but to God!"

⁹ whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. ¹¹ And because of this, God sends them _⌊a powerful delusion_⌋* so that they will believe the lie, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.

¹ Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

⁶ We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

¹⁴ And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it has been granted to him to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who has the wound of the sword and yet lived.

¹³ And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs. ¹⁴ For they are the spirits of demons performing signs that go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God the All-Powerful.

¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make _⌊a unanimous decision_⌋* and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

³ and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it above him, in order that he could not deceive the nations again until the thousand years are completed. After these things it is necessary for him to be released for a short time.

⁷ And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

¹⁰ And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night _⌊forever and ever_⌋*.

²¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go to return to Egypt, see all of the wonders that I have put in your hand, and do them before Pharaoh, and I myself will harden his heart, and he will not release the people.

²⁰ And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not release the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of humankind, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? ²⁰ Behold, I have received a command to bless; when he has blessed, I cannot cause it to return.

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his territory because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and _⌊made him obstinate_⌋* _⌊in order to give him_⌋* into your hand, _⌊just as he has now done_⌋.*

⁴² He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from your hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'"

¹⁹ You shall say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Have you committed murder and also taken possession?" ' You shall also say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will also lick your blood." '"

⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so." ⁹ The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah." ¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'"

¹⁶ And it happened that while he was speaking to him, he said to him, "Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop—_⌊why should you be killed_⌋?"* So the prophet stopped and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

⁹ And he said, "Go and say to this people,
'Keep on listening and do not comprehend! And keep on looking and do not understand!' ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and comprehend with its mind and turn back, and it may be healed for him."

²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a _⌊deceived mind_⌋* misleads him. And he cannot save _⌊himself_⌋,* and he cannot say, "Is this not an illusion in my right hand?"

³ "Son of man,* these men took up their idols into their heart and _⌊they placed before themselves_⌋* a stumbling block of their guilt.* _⌊Should I really let myself be consulted by them_⌋?* ⁴ Therefore speak with them, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Every person from the house of Israel who brings up his idols into his heart and _⌊places before himself_⌋* a stumbling block of his guilt* and yet he comes to the prophet, I Yahweh, I will respond to him through this act* with respect to the multitude* of his idols, ⁵ so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from me, all of them, through their idols.'

¹³ For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, ¹⁴ and with reference to them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says,
"_⌊You will listen carefully_⌋* and will never understand, and _⌊you will look closely_⌋* and will never perceive. ¹⁵ For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."*

²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you ahead of time!

¹¹ Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'"

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "_⌊Which way_⌋* did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?" ²⁴ Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day when you go into a private room to hide yourself."

⁵ The Lord Yahweh has opened an ear for me, and I, I was not rebellious. I did not turn backwards; ⁶ I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my _⌊beard_⌋;* I did not hide my face from insults and spittle.

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananiah said before the eyes of all the people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Thus says Yahweh, 'This is how I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, _⌊within two years_⌋,* from the neck of all the nations.'" And Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

²⁶ "Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron, ²⁷ and so then why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite who exhibits the behavior of a prophet for you?

³⁰ Let him give a cheek to his smiter, let him be filled with disgrace.

¹ * Now muster troops, O daughter of troops; a siege he puts against us. They strike the ruler of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer, but whoever strikes you on the right cheek,* turn the other to him also.

⁶⁸ saying, "Prophesy for us, you Christ! Who is it who hit you?"

⁴² "He saved others; he is not able to save himself! He is the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him! ⁴³ He trusts in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to,* because he said, 'I am the Son of God'!"

⁶⁵ And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him with their fists, and to say to him "Prophesy!" And the officers received him with slaps in the face.*

¹⁹ And they repeatedly struck* him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and _⌊they knelt down_⌋* and* did obeisance to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes* on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated* you.

²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

² So the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike his mouth.

⁸ They killed the kings of Midian in addition to the ones they had slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam son of Beor by the sword.

³⁰ Then those who remained fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who had remained, so Ben-Hadad fled and went to the innermost rooms of the city.

¹⁴ So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in one day. ¹⁵ Elders* and _⌊the respectable_⌋* are the head, and prophets* who teach lies* are the tail. ¹⁶ And the leaders of this people were misleading them, and those who were led were confused.

¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets,
"Look, I am going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land."

¹⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I am going to send you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.'" ¹⁷ And Hananiah the prophet died in that same year in the seventh month.

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, 'Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. ²² And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles* of Judah who are in Babylon, _⌊saying_⌋,* "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,"

³² _⌊therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, "Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh." '"

¹⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you* will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in _⌊destructive heresies_⌋*, even denying the Master who bought them, thus* bringing on themselves swift destruction.

³ You shall not eat _⌊with it_⌋* anything leavened; seven days you shall eat _⌊with it_⌋* unleavened bread of affliction, because in haste you went out from the land of Egypt, so that you will remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in _⌊the prison_⌋,* for he was enraged with him concerning this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

⁵ You have fed them the bread of tears; you have given them tears to drink in full measure.*

⁹ Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears*

² It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late, eating the bread of anxious toil, when thus he* provides* for his beloved in his sleep.*

²⁰ And the Lord will give you the bread of distress and the water of oppression, but* your teachers will not hide themselves* any longer. And your eyes _⌊shall see_⌋* your teachers.

² Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the temple of Yahweh.

²⁶ "Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron,

¹⁵ And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in _⌊prison_⌋,* in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the _⌊prison_⌋*.

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit* of Malchiah, the son of the king, which was in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit* there was no water,* _⌊but only_⌋* mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

⁵³ _⌊They have silenced me in a pit_⌋,* they have thrown a stone at me. ⁵⁴ Water has flown over my head, I said, "I am cut off." ⁵⁵ I have called your name, O Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and* arrested John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not permitted for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹ So Herodias held a grudge against him and was wanting to kill him, and was not able to do so. ²⁰ For Herod was afraid of John, because he* knew him to be a righteous and holy man and protected him. And when he* listened to him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he listened to him gladly. ²¹ And a suitable day came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and military tribunes and the most prominent men of Galilee. ²² And when* the daughter of Herodias herself* came in and danced and pleased* Herod and _⌊his dinner guests_⌋,* the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it* to you." ²³ And he swore to her,* "Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!" ²⁴ And she went out and* said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and* asked, saying, "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately." ²⁶ And although he* was deeply grieved, the king, because of his* oaths and _⌊dinner guests_⌋,* did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner and* ordered him* to bring his head. And he went and* beheaded him in the prison. ²⁸ And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁰ added this also to them all: he also locked up John in prison.

⁴⁵ But if that slave should say _⌊to himself_⌋,* 'My master is taking a long time to return,' and he begins to beat the male slaves and the female slaves and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and assign his place with the unbelievers.

¹⁸ And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison.

²³ And after they* had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them* into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴ Having received such an order, _⌊he_⌋* put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.*

²⁵ And while* he was discussing about righteousness and self control and the judgment that is to come, Felix became afraid and* replied, "Go away for the present, and when I* have an opportunity, I will summon you." ²⁶ At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul. For this reason also he sent for him as often as possible and* talked with him. ²⁷ And when* two years had passed, Felix received as successor Porcius Festus. And because he* wanted to do a favor for the Jews, Felix left Paul behind _⌊as a prisoner_⌋.*

¹⁰ which I also did in Jerusalem, and not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when* they were being executed, I cast my vote* against them.*

¹ On account of this I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

² for you yourselves well know that the day of the Lord is coming in the same way as a thief in the night. ³ Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of _⌊a pregnant woman_⌋*, and they will not possibly escape.

¹³ Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there, and carry on business and make a profit," ¹⁴ you who do not know _⌊what will happen tomorrow_⌋*, _⌊what your life will be like_⌋*. For you are a smoky vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears.

¹⁰ Do not be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will experience affliction ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

²⁹ _⌊If they die a natural death_⌋* or _⌊if a natural fate is visited upon them_⌋,* Yahweh has not sent me.

²⁰ However, the prophet that behaves presumptuously by speaking a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.' ²¹ And if you say _⌊to yourself_⌋,* 'How can we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken to him?' ²² Whenever what the prophet spoke in the name of Yahweh, the thing does not take place and does not come about, that is the thing that Yahweh has not spoken to him.* Presumptuously the prophet spoke it; you shall not fear that* prophet."

²¹ Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don't let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire on it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he is God."* Then all the people answered and said, "The word is good!"

³⁶ It happened at the offering of the evening oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all of these things by your words. ³⁷ Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again."

¹⁰ Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!" Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹² Then Elijah answered and said to them, "If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!" Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

²⁷ And Micaiah said, "If you surely return in peace Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Hear, peoples, all of them!"

²⁶ who keeps* the word of his servant and carries out the plan of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be rebuilt, and I will restore its ruins';

¹ Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:*

² Hear, all you peoples; give heed, O earth and its fullness. And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness, the Lord from _⌊his holy temple_⌋.*

¹⁴ And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him by* going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person."*

³⁷ David himself calls him 'Lord,' and how is he his son?" And the large crowd was listening to him gladly.

¹⁰ and* said, "O you who are full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord! ¹¹ And now behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun _⌊for a while_⌋.* And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for people* to lead him* by the hand.

² It happened in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to the king of Israel, ³ and the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we are doing nothing about taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?" ⁴ Then he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to the battle for Ramoth-Gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "_⌊I am like you_⌋;* _⌊my people are like your people_⌋;* _⌊my horses are like your horses_⌋."* ⁵ Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire for the word of Yahweh today." ⁶ Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?" Then they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." ⁷ So Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might still inquire from him?" ⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so." ⁹ The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah."

²⁸ Then the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-Gilead.

⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went _⌊with two of his men_⌋.* And they came to the woman by night and he said, "Please consult a spirit for me through _⌊the ritual pit_⌋,* and bring up for me the one whom I tell you."

² So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself with oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for _⌊a long time_⌋.*

² Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people.

³⁸ Then the prophet went and _⌊waited_⌋* for the king along the road and disguised himself with a* headband over his eyes.

¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.

²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you, wear your garments." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went to war.

² They speak falseness _⌊to each other_⌋.* With flattering lips, with _⌊a double heart_⌋* they speak.

³⁰ There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel to oppose Yahweh.

²⁴ Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹¹ And the men who were at the entrance of the house they struck with blindness, both small and great, and they were unable to find the entrance.

² They took captive the women* who were in it, _⌊from the youngest to the oldest_⌋.* They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way.

¹ Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all of his army, and thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. He went up and laid siege against Samaria and fought with it.

¹⁶ They went out at noon while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents, he and the thirty-two kings helping him.

²⁴ Do this thing: remove the kings each from his post, and put a governor in their place.

³³ The men took this as a good omen and they quickly accepted it as true from him, and they said, "Your brother Ben-Hadad lives." So he said, "Go, get him." Ben-Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up on the chariot. ³⁴ Ben-Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "_⌊On these terms_⌋* I will let you go," So he made a covenant with him and let him go. ³⁵ A certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his fellow countryman, "By the word of Yahweh, please strike me." But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you." When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and _⌊waited_⌋* for the king along the road and disguised himself with a* headband over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ It happened that your servant _⌊was busy here and there_⌋,* and he _⌊disappeared_⌋."* Then the king said to him, "Your own judgment has been determined." ⁴¹ He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. ⁴² He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from your hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'"

³⁰ Now the king of Aram* had commanded the commanders of his chariots,* saying, "Do not fight with the small or the great, but only with the king of Israel."

⁶ Both the great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and they will not mourn for them, and no one will cut himself with a blade, and no one will shave himself for them.

¹⁰ And Pharaoh approached, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* lifted their eyes, and there were the Egyptians traveling after them! And they were very afraid, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* cried out to Yahweh.

³¹ And it happened that when the commanders of the chariots* saw Jehoshaphat, then they said, "It is the king of Israel!" And they turned against him to fight. Then Jehoshaphat cried out and Yahweh helped him. God drove them away from him.

¹⁵ And call me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me."

¹⁵ He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him.

¹ I love him, because Yahweh has heard _⌊the voice of my supplications_⌋.* ² Because he has inclined his ear to me, I will call _⌊all my days_⌋.*

¹ A song of ascents.*
Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh. ² "O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. ³ If you, O Yah,* should _⌊keep track of_⌋* iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you is forgiveness, so that you may be feared."

¹ And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the belly of the fish ² and said,
"I called _⌊from my distress_⌋* to Yahweh, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol* I cried for help— you heard my voice.

³¹ The king of Aram commanded his thirty-two chariot commanders, saying, "You shall not fight with small or great, but only against the king of Israel, him alone!"

¹⁰ For the anger of humankind will praise you. You will put on the remnant of anger.*

⁴⁹ Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything.

²⁴ Then Jehu _⌊drew his bow_⌋* and shot Joram between his shoulders so that the arrow went out from his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

²³ And the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."

¹³ And I also _⌊have made you sick by striking you down_⌋,* making you desolate because of your sins.

⁹ and they had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many _⌊horse-drawn chariots_⌋* running into battle.

²⁸ Then Micaiah said, "If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Let all the peoples hear!"

⁷ And Yahweh said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the three hundred men lapping up the water; I will give Midian into your hand, so let the other troops go, each to his own place. ⁸ So they took their provisions and their trumpets into their hand, and he sent all the men of Israel, each one, to his tent; but three hundred of the men he kept; the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

²⁴ So the _⌊Israelites_⌋* dispersed from there at that time according to tribe and family; and they went out from there, each one to their own territory.

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.

⁸ So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, "Look, the king is sitting in the gate." Then all the army came before the king; whereas all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

¹⁶ When all of Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "_⌊What share do we have in David_⌋?* There is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now look to your house, David!" Then Israel went to their* tents.

²⁴ 'Thus says Yahweh: "You shall not go up and you shall not fight with your brothers the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* Return each of you to his house, for this thing was from me." '" So they heeded the word of Yahweh, and they returned to go home according to the word of Yahweh.

¹⁷ So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'"

¹² Judah was defeated before Israel and they fled, each to this tent.

¹⁴ Look! _⌊I am about to die_⌋,* and you know in all your hearts* and souls* that not one thing _⌊failed_⌋* from all the good things that Yahweh your God promised concerning you; everything _⌊has been fulfilled_⌋;* _⌊not one thing failed_⌋.* ¹⁵ But just as all the good things* came to you that Yahweh your God promised, so will Yahweh bring to you all the bad things* until he has destroyed you from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

²⁵ who frustrates* the signs of oracle priests and makes a fool of diviners, who drives the wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, ²⁶ who keeps* the word of his servant and carries out the plan of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be rebuilt, and I will restore its ruins';

³ "I declared the former things from _⌊of old_⌋,* and they went out from my mouth. And I _⌊announced_⌋* them suddenly; I acted,* and they came to pass, ⁴ because _⌊I know_⌋* that you are obstinate, and your neck an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze. ⁵ And I declared them to you from of old; I _⌊ announced_⌋* them to you before they came to pass so that you would not say, 'My idol did them, and my image and my cast image commanded them.'

²¹ "The offering that you made, smoke offerings in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your ancestors,* your kings, and your officials, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh remember them, and did it not come to his _⌊mind_⌋?* ²² And Yahweh was no longer able to bear* it, _⌊because of_⌋* the evil of your deeds, _⌊because of_⌋* the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants, as it is this day. ²³ _⌊Because of_⌋* the fact that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, _⌊therefore_⌋* this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day."

⁴ "Do not be like your ancestors,* to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear* and they did not pay attention* to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵ "Your ancestors,* where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ However, did not my words and my regulations which I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?* And they repented and said, 'Yahweh of hosts planned to do with us according to our ways, and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.'" '"

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

¹⁸ The king also made a large ivory throne, and he overlaid it with fine gold.

²² For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king and was on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

¹⁹ The remainder of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.

²³ The remainder of the acts of Asa, all of his achievements, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? But at the time of his old age, _⌊he developed a foot disease_⌋.*

³¹ Now the remainder of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

⁵ The remainder of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his powerful deeds, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

²⁰ The remainder of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

²⁷ The remainder of the acts of Omri that he did and his powerful deeds, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

⁸ All your robes are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From palaces of ivory stringed instruments gladden you.

⁶ They made your oars with oaks from Bashan; your deck they made with inlaid ivory, with cypress trees from the coastlands of Cyprus.*

¹⁵ The people* of Dedan were trading with you, many coastlands composed the region of your _⌊influence_⌋;* they brought back horns of ivory and ebony as your payment.

¹⁵ I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁴ Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from the sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of the animal stall.

¹⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors,* and this people will arise and they* will play the prostitute after _⌊the foreign gods_⌋* of the land _⌊to which they are going_⌋.*

¹² When your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors,* I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹⁰ Then David slept with his ancestors* and was buried in the city of David.

²¹ Now Hadad heard in Egypt that David had slept with his ancestors* and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Send me away that I may go to my land."

³¹ Then Rehoboam slept with his ancestors,* and he was buried with his ancestors* in the city of David. The name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son became king in his place.

⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

² Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which was in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury."

¹⁷ So he died, according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken, and Joram became king in his place in the second year of Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, because he had no son.

³⁵ And afterward Jehoshaphat the king of Judah joined with Ahaziah the king of Israel, who acted wickedly.

² It happened in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to the king of Israel,

¹⁰ Now the son of Solomon was Rehoboam; Abijah was his son, Asa was his son, Jehoshaphat was his son,

¹ And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and he strengthened himself against Israel.

³¹ So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

²¹ Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which, from all of the tribes of Israel, Yahweh chose to place his name. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.

² Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

¹⁶ Now in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Joram son of Jehoshaphat became the king of Judah.*

⁸ They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'"

²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear! You have done all this evil; only do not turn aside from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh. But you must serve Yahweh with all your heart. ²¹ And do not turn aside after the triviality,* which have no value and cannot deliver, for they are triviality.

²³ They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

⁵ because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn't turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

¹¹ Asa did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his ancestor.*

¹⁴ But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days.

³ Only the high places were not removed; the people were still making sacrifices and offering incense on the high places.

³ He did right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not as David his ancestor;* as all which Jehoash his father had done, he did. ⁴ Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and offering incense on the high places.

³ He did right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done. ⁴ Only he did not remove the high places; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

²² But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down only in Jerusalem?'

² Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God. ³ He removed the foreign altars and high places, broke down the stone pillars, and cut down the Asherahs. ⁴ And he commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ And he removed the high places and the incense stands from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom had rest under* him.

¹¹ Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God. And he said, "O Yahweh, there is none with you to help between the great and the powerless. Help us, O Yahweh our God, for we rely upon you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, you are our God! Let no man prevail against you!"

⁸ And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the vile idols from all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the portico of Yahweh.

¹⁷ But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was fully devoted all his days.

⁷ And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "On account of your reliance upon the king of Aram,* and since you did not rely on Yahweh your God, therefore the troops of the king of Aram* escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with very abundant chariots and horsemen? And because of your reliance on Yahweh he gave them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout all the earth to strengthen those whose heart is fully devoted to him. You have been foolish in this, for from now on you will have wars." ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in _⌊the prison_⌋,* for he was enraged with him concerning this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. ¹¹ Now behold, the words of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, he fell _⌊severely_⌋* ill in his feet. But even in his illness he did not seek Yahweh, but only among the healers.

³ And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of David his father and did not seek after the Baals, ⁴ but he sought after the God of his ancestors* and walked in his commandments and not according to the works of Israel. ⁵ So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah gave tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had much wealth and honor. ⁶ And his heart was courageous in the ways of Yahweh. Moreover, he removed the high places and the Asherahs from Judah.

³ Nevertheless some good things have been found in regard to you, for you burned the Asherahs out of the land and set your heart to seek God." ⁴ And Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.*

³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh. And he called for a fast through all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek after Yahweh; even from all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh. ⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Yahweh before the new courtyard. ⁶ And he said, "O Yahweh, God of our ancestors,* are you not God in heaven? Now you rule in all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand are power and might, and there is none who can resist against you. ⁷ O, our God, did you yourself not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants* of Abraham your friend forever? ⁸ And they lived in it and built for you a sanctuary for your name in it, saying, ⁹ 'If disaster, a sword, punishment, disease, or famine come upon us, we shall stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you out of our trouble, then you will hear and save us.' ¹⁰ And now, look, the people* of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy, ¹¹ now behold, they are rewarding us by coming to dispossess us from your possession which you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² O our God, will you not judge them, for there is no power in us before this great multitude that is coming against us. Now we do not know what we shall do, for our eyes are upon you." ¹³ And all Judah was standing before Yahweh, and also their little children, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite from the descendants* of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley facing the desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ There will be no need for you to fight in this battle. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh will be with you.'" ¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat bowed his face* down to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahweh to worship Yahweh. ¹⁹ Then the Levites, from the _⌊Kohathites_⌋* and from the _⌊Korahites_⌋* stood up to praise Yahweh the God of Israel with an exceedingly* loud voice. ²⁰ And they rose up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, and you shall be established! Believe in his prophets, and you shall succeed!" ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh who were giving praise to the splendor of his holiness when they went out before the army. And they said, "Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love is everlasting!" ²² And _⌊when_⌋* they began with singing and praise, Yahweh set ambushes against the people* of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah. And they were defeated ²³ when the people* of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to destroy and demolish them. And when the inhabitants of Seir had made an end of them, each helped to destroy his comrade. ²⁴ And Judah came against the watchtower of the wilderness. And they looked at the crowd, and behold, corpses were lying on the ground. There was none who had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat came with his people to plunder their booty, they found among them in abundance possessions, corpses, and precious items. And they took plunder for themselves _⌊until they could carry no more_⌋.* And they were three days in plundering the booty, for it was abundant. ²⁶ And on the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of Berakah up to this day. ²⁷ And all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned, and Jehoshaphat was at their head in returning to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh caused them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with harps, stringed instruments, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. ²⁹ And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the earth when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at rest, since his God gave rest to him all around.

⁴ Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust and does not turn to the proud and to those who fall away to a lie.*

³ I will not set before my eyes any wicked thing. I hate the work of those who fall away;* it will not cling to me.

⁵ But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

²⁷ Do not swerve right or left; remove your foot from evil.

⁶ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh.

¹⁴ Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers, for what participation is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom; are they not written on the scroll of the acts of Solomon?

²⁹ The remainder of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?

³⁴ Now the rest of the words of Jehoshaphat, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the chronicles* of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the scroll of the kings of Israel.

⁵ And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know* them."

¹⁷ "No woman _⌊of Israel_⌋* shall be a temple prostitute, and no man _⌊of Israel_⌋* shall be a male shrine prostitute.

²² While _⌊they were enjoying themselves_⌋,* behold, the men of the city, _⌊the perverse lot_⌋,* surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that _⌊we may have sex with him_⌋."*

²⁴ There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹² He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors* made.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their females exchanged the natural relations for those contrary to nature, ²⁷ and likewise also the males, abandoning the natural relations with the female, were inflamed in their desire toward one another, males with males committing the shameless deed, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was necessary for their error.

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners,

¹⁰ sexually immoral people, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and _⌊whatever_⌋* else is opposed to sound teaching,

⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them indulged in sexual immorality and _⌊pursued unnatural desire_⌋* in the same way as these, are exhibited as an example by* undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

²³ And Yahweh said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples _⌊from birth_⌋* shall be divided. And _⌊one people shall be stronger than the other_⌋.* And the elder shall serve the younger."

⁴⁰ But by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But it shall be that when free yourself you shall tear off his yoke from your neck.

³¹ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ³² Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom. And the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah from Bozrah, reigned in his place. ³⁴ And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ And Husham died, and Hadad, son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field* of Moab reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. ³⁶ And Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ And Samlah died, and Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates* reigned in his place. ³⁸ And Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan, the son of Acbor, reigned in his place. ³⁹ And Baal-Hanan the son of Acbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Pau, and the name of his wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. ⁴⁰ Now these are the names of the chiefs of Esau according to their families, according to their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom) according to their settlements in the land of their possession.

¹⁴ He put garrisons in Edom; all over Edom he put garrisons, and all of Edom became servants of David. Yahweh protected David wherever he went.

⁹ So the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom went around, a way of seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the animals which _⌊were with them_⌋.*

²⁰ In his days, Edom rebelled _⌊against the rule_⌋* of Judah, and they set up a king over them.

⁹ Moab is my washing pot. Over Edom I will cast my sandal; Over Philistia I will shout in triumph." ¹⁰ Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

³⁵ They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. ³⁶ They set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the desert of Zin, that is, Kadesh.

²⁶ King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber which is near Elath on the shore of the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* in the land of Edom.

²⁸ They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.

²¹ For the ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram.* Once _⌊every three years_⌋* the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh who were giving praise to the splendor of his holiness when they went out before the army. And they said, "Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love is everlasting!"

³⁵ And afterward Jehoshaphat the king of Judah joined with Ahaziah the king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶ He joined with him to build ships to go to Tarshish. And they built the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because of your joining with Ahaziah, Yahweh will break down your works." And the ships were destroyed and were not able to go to Tarshish.

⁷ But a man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites.

⁹ Kings' daughters are among your noble ladies. The queen stands at your right hand in gold of Ophir.

⁷ With an east wind you shatter* the ships of Tarshish.*

¹⁶ and against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the ships of desire.

⁹ Because the coastlands wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish are first to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.

³ But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from _⌊the presence of_⌋* Yahweh. And he went down to Joppa and found a merchant ship going to Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from _⌊the presence of_⌋* Yahweh.

⁴³ Then Solomon slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his ancestors,* and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

¹⁶ Now in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Joram son of Jehoshaphat became the king of Judah.* ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife, and he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

¹ And Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors* and was buried with his ancestors* in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh. ⁷ But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had _⌊made_⌋* with David and since he had promised* to give a lamp to him and to his descendants* _⌊forever_⌋.*

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

²⁸ And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them,* "_⌊You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough_⌋;* here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." ²⁹ He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests _⌊from all walks of life_⌋* who were not from the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and he went up to the altar to offer incense.

⁹ But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have _⌊completely disregarded_⌋.* ¹⁰ Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off _⌊males_⌋* from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished. ¹¹ He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it." ' ¹² As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. ¹³ All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel. ¹⁴ Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day. ¹⁵ Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors.* He will scatter them beyond the River* because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin."

²⁶ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.

³⁴ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.

³⁰ But Ahab son of Omri did evil in the eyes of Yahweh more than all who were before him. ³¹ _⌊If it wasn't enough that he went_⌋* after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him. ³² And he built an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made the sacred pole, and _⌊he continued to provoke_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel more than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

²⁵ Truly, there was no one like Ahab who had sold himself by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh, whose wife Jezebel urged him on.

² Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which was in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury." ³ Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and speak to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' ⁴ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'The bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, but you shall surely die.'" So Elijah went. ⁵ When the messengers returned to him, he asked them, "Why have you returned?" ⁶ Then they said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.'" '" ⁷ Then he spoke to them, "What was the manner of the man who came up to meet you and spoke to you all these things?"

³ But he did cling to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin, and he did not depart from it.

²⁷ He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, as the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor for doing wickedness.

²⁴ And she went out and* said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer."

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, indeed I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.

¹ And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors.* I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you. ² And as for you, do not _⌊make a covenant_⌋* with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. _⌊Why would you do such a thing_⌋?* ³ Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will _⌊become as thorns_⌋* for you, and their gods will be a trap for you." ⁴ And as the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* the people _⌊wept bitterly_⌋.* ⁵ And they called the name of this place Bokim,* and there they sacrificed to Yahweh. ⁶ And Joshua sent the people away, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* went each to their* own inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷ And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel. ⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died _⌊at the age of one hundred and ten years_⌋.* ⁹ They buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnah-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their* ancestors,* and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.* ¹¹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and _⌊they served_⌋* the Baals.

⁷ Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to Baasha and to his house by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet, because of all the evil that he did in the eyes of Yahweh by provoking him with the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam; and he destroyed him.

³⁰ But Ahab son of Omri did evil in the eyes of Yahweh more than all who were before him. ³¹ _⌊If it wasn't enough that he went_⌋* after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him. ³² And he built an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria.

²⁹ "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days. I will bring the disaster on his house in the days of his son."

² and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not as his father or his mother, as he removed the stone pillars of Baal that his father had made.

²⁹ Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

³ the people _⌊who provoke_⌋* me to anger continually to my face, slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden, and making smoke offerings on bricks,

³ And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate _⌊that faced north_⌋,* at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous.

¹⁴ "And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. ¹⁵ On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. ¹⁶ And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and _⌊he does not commit robbery_⌋;* he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. ¹⁷ He brings back* his hand from iniquity;* he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes* in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! ¹⁸ Because his father _⌊oppressed severely_⌋;* _⌊he stole from his brother_⌋;* that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through* his guilt.