Ezekiel 21 Cross References - LEB

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Son of man,* set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. ³ And you must say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. ⁴ Because* I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to* all creatures* from south to north. ⁵ And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!" ' ⁶ And you, son of man,* groan _⌊with shaking hips_⌋,* and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. ⁷ _⌊And then_⌋* when they say to you, 'On account of what are you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.' Look! It is coming, and it will happen!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ⁸ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ⁹ "Son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord,' say, 'A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. ¹⁰ It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, _⌊polished to flash like lightning_⌋!* Or will we rejoice?* A rod, my son, is despising every tree.* ¹¹ And he gives it to be polished, _⌊to be seized by the hand_⌋.* It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer. ¹² Cry and wail, son of man,* for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore _⌊strike your thigh_⌋.* ¹³ For _⌊examine_⌋!* And what if also the rod will not be despising?' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁴ And you, son of man,* prophesy _⌊and clap your hands_⌋.* And the sword will _⌊strike twice_⌋;* let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them, ¹⁵ so that a heart melts, and the fallen _⌊multiply_⌋* at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped* for slaughtering. ¹⁶ Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your _⌊edge_⌋* is directed. ¹⁷ And also _⌊I myself_⌋* will _⌊clap my hands_⌋,* and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken." ¹⁸ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ¹⁹ "And you, son of man,* mark out for yourself* two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must _⌊both_⌋* go out from the same land. And hew out a _⌊signpost_⌋;* hew it at the head of the road of the city. ²⁰ You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. _⌊He shakes the arrows_⌋,* he inquires with the teraphim, he _⌊examines_⌋* the liver. ²² In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter,* _⌊to raise the battle cry_⌋,* to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.* ²³ And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely* in their eyes; _⌊they have sworn oaths for themselves_⌋.* But* he will bring their guilt to remembrance so as to seize them. ²⁴ "Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear—because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.' ²⁵ And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end, ²⁶ thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things are no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high. ²⁷ A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also* this has not ever happened;* it will remain until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it to him.' ²⁸ And you, son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and concerning their disgrace,' and you must say, 'A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughtering; it is polished for holding, _⌊for flashing like lightning_⌋,* ²⁹ when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give* you on the neck of the profane ones of the wicked, _⌊whose day has come_⌋,* _⌊the time of final punishment_⌋.* ³⁰ Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you! ³¹ And I will pour out my anger on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled craftsmen of destruction. ³² You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.'"

² May my teaching trickle like the dew, my words like rain showers on tender grass, and like spring showers on new growth.

¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "_⌊This man deserves the death sentence_⌋,* because he has prophesied against this city as that which you have heard with your ears." ¹² Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and to all the people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

³ And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it as a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be _⌊under siege_⌋,* and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel.

⁷ And toward the siege of Jerusalem you must set your face and your bared arm; then you must prophesy against it.

² "Son of man,* set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,

⁴⁶ "Son of man,* set your face toward the way of the south,* and preach to the south, and prophesy against the forest of the territory of the Negev.

² "Son of man,* set your face toward the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and prophesy against them,

²¹ "Son of man,* set your face toward Sidon and prophesy against it,

² "Son of man,* set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against Egypt, all of it.

¹ "And you, son of man,* prophesy to the mountains of Israel; and so you must say, 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh;

² "Son of man,* set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the head* leader of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

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!'

⁶ "Do not preach!" they are preaching. They should not preach to these; disgrace will not overtake us.

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!

¹³ And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place* and the law! ¹⁴ For we have heard him saying that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

¹⁹ and for me, that a word may be given to me at the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

⁹ The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide plunder, my desire will be full of them, I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.'

²⁵ And I will bring upon you a sword that seeks vengeance for the covenant, and you shall be gathered to your cities; and I will send a plague in your midst, and you shall be given into the hand of an enemy.

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin.

⁴¹ When I sharpen* _⌊my flashing sword_⌋,* and my hand takes hold* of it in judgment, _⌊I will take reprisals against my foes_⌋,* and my haters I will repay. ⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain, and captives* from the heads* of the leaders of the enemy.'

²² It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'

¹³ Rise up, O Yahweh, confront _⌊him_⌋.* Make him bow down. Rescue with your sword my life from the wicked,

² The same fate comes to everyone:
to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked,* to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As with the good man, so also to the sinner; as with those who swear an oath, so also those who fear oaths.

⁵ Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath!

⁵ When my sword is drenched in the heavens,
look! It will descend upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban, for judgment.

² _⌊And then_⌋* if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh,
"Those who are destined for the plague, to the plague, and those who are destined for the sword, to the sword, and those who are destined for the famine, to the famine, and those who are destined for the captivity, to the captivity." ' ³ "And I will summon* over them four types of calamity," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birds* of the air and the wild animals* of the earth to devour and to destroy. ⁴ And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

¹³ Look, I am against you, O inhabitants* of the valley, O rock of the plain," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh; "you who say, 'Who can descend against us, or who can enter into our hiding place?'

⁶ Ah, sword of Yahweh, _⌊how long_⌋* will you not be quiet? Gather to your sheath, keep quiet and stand still. ⁷ How can you be quiet when Yahweh has given an order to it? Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea, there he has appointed it."

³¹ "Look, I am against you, O arrogant one," _⌊declares_⌋* Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.

²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you.

²⁵ "Look, I am against you, O mountain of the destruction," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the one that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away.

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look! I, _⌊even I_⌋,* am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you before the eyes of the nations,

¹² A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw the sword behind them.

⁵ And to the others he said in my hearing, "Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. ⁶ You must kill _⌊totally_⌋* old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but _⌊concerning_⌋* every man _⌊with the mark on him_⌋* you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin." And they began with the old men who _⌊were before_⌋* the house.*

¹⁷ Or, if I bring a sword over that land, and I say, 'Sword, let it cross over into* the land!' And I will cut off from it both human and animal.

²¹ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "How much more when I send my four punishments—the evil sword, and famine, and a fierce animal, and a plague—to Jerusalem to cut it off, both human and animal!

⁹ "Son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord,' say, 'A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. ¹⁰ It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, _⌊polished to flash like lightning_⌋!* Or will we rejoice?* A rod, my son, is despising every tree.* ¹¹ And he gives it to be polished, _⌊to be seized by the hand_⌋.* It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.

¹⁹ "And you, son of man,* mark out for yourself* two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must _⌊both_⌋* go out from the same land. And hew out a _⌊signpost_⌋;* hew it at the head of the road of the city.

³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring up against you many nations like the stirring up of the sea _⌊stirring up its waves_⌋.*

¹³ "Look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts. "I will burn her chariots _⌊with fire_⌋;* the sword will devour fierce lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth; the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."

⁵ "Look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋*Yahweh. "I will strip up your skirts over your face; I will let nations look at your nakedness and your shame.

¹² You also, O Cushites, they shall be killed by my sword.

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.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, _⌊because of which_⌋* they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. ¹² The one who is far away will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on* them. ¹³ And you will know that I am Yahweh _⌊when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols_⌋* around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place at which they gave a pleasing scent for all of their idols. ¹⁴ And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I am Yahweh." '"

² "And you, son of man,* thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: 'The end comes, the end on the four corners of the land.

⁴⁷ And you must say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; the blaze of the flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from the south to the north will be scorched by it.

²¹ but as I am alive, the glory of Yahweh will fill all the earth. ²² But because all the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice, ²³ they will not see the land that I swore by oath to their ancestors,* and all those who despised me will not see it.

²⁴ And all the nations will say, '_⌊Why_⌋* has Yahweh done _⌊such a thing_⌋* to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?' ²⁵ And they will say,* 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* which he _⌊made_⌋* with them _⌊when he brought them out_⌋* from the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he* had not allotted to them. ²⁷ So _⌊the anger of Yahweh was kindled_⌋* against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, ²⁸ and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, _⌊just as it is today_⌋.'*

¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, _⌊from beginning to end_⌋.*

⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples. ⁸ This house shall become a heap of ruins; all those passing by will be appalled by it and hiss, and they will say, 'On what account did Yahweh do this to this land and to this house?' ⁹ And they will say, 'Because they have forsaken Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors* out from the land of Egypt and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore, Yahweh brought on them all of this disaster.'"

²³ I have sworn by myself; a word that* shall not return has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness: 'Every knee shall kneel down to me; every tongue shall swear.'

¹¹ so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me without success, but shall accomplish* what I desire and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.

²⁰ The _⌊anger_⌋* of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his _⌊mind_⌋.* _⌊In latter days_⌋* you will look closely at it with understanding.

⁴⁸ And all creatures will see that I, Yahweh, I kindled it—it will not be quenched!" '"

³⁰ Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you!

⁹ What* do you plot against Yahweh? _⌊He will completely destroy it_⌋;* trouble will not rise up a second time!

¹¹ Therefore my _⌊heart moans_⌋* like a harp for Moab and my inner parts for Kir-heres.

³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I am _⌊too bent to hear_⌋,* I am _⌊too dismayed to see_⌋.*

⁴ Therefore I said,
"Look away from me, let me _⌊weep bitterly_⌋;* you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people."

¹⁹ My bowels, my bowels! I writhe! The walls of my heart! My heart is restless within me, I cannot keep silent, for I hear in my inner self the sound of a horn, the alarm of war.

¹⁷ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come, and for the skillful women, so that they come. ¹⁸ And let them hasten, and let them lift up wailing over us, so that our eyes may melt with tears, and our eyelids may flow with water. ¹⁹ For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How we are devastated! We are very ashamed because we have left the land, because they have overthrown our dwelling places.' ²⁰ For hear, O women, the word of Yahweh, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters a lamentation, and each woman her neighbor a lament. ²¹ For death has come into our windows, it has entered into our fortresses, to cut off the children* from the streets,* the young men from the public squares.

¹⁰ "Then you shall break the jar before the eyes of the men who go with you.

⁶ Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why do I see every strong man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And why are all their faces changed to paleness?

¹² And as a bread-cake of barley you shall eat it, and _⌊with human excrement_⌋* you shall bake it before their eyes."

¹¹ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, _⌊because of which_⌋* they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.

⁴ And Yahweh said to him, "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men _⌊who are groaning and lamenting_⌋* about all of the detestable things _⌊that are being done_⌋* in the midst of her."

³ And you, son of man,* prepare for yourself* the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into* exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion. ⁴ And you must bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like _⌊those who go into exile_⌋.* ⁵ Before their eyes dig through for yourself,* through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it.

¹² Cry and wail, son of man,* for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore _⌊strike your thigh_⌋.*

²⁰ And the pieces of wood on which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes.

⁶ Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and _⌊his hip joints gave way_⌋* and _⌊his knees knocked together_⌋.*

²⁷ And I, Daniel, was overcome, and I became ill for some days, and I _⌊performed_⌋* the business of the king, and I was dismayed over the vision and _⌊I did not understand it_⌋.*

¹⁰ Emptiness and plundering and devastation! Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,* _⌊All their loins shake_⌋* and all their faces _⌊turn_⌋* pale.

¹⁶ I hear and my stomach shakes; my lips quiver at the sound; infection enters my bones; that which is beneath me trembles; I wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon the people attacking us.

³³ Then Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled within himself. ³⁴ And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." ³⁵ Jesus wept.

¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were horrified; great distress seized the leaders of Moab; all of the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.

³⁶ As for* the ones who remain among you, I will bring* fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight _⌊before_⌋* a sword, and they shall fall, but* there shall not be a pursuer.

⁸ And the officials shall continue to speak to the troops, and they shall say, '_⌊What man_⌋* is afraid _⌊and disheartened_⌋?* Let him go, and let him return to his house, and let him not cause the heart of his brothers to melt* like his.'

⁹ and said to the men, "I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away in fear because of your presence. ¹⁰ For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* before you when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹ We heard this, and our hearts* melted, and _⌊no courage was left in anyone_⌋* because of your presence. For Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

¹ And it happened, when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites* who were by the sea heard that Yahweh dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* until they crossed over, their hearts melted, and _⌊there was no courage left in them_⌋* because of the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋. *

¹⁰ And he is also a _⌊valiant warrior_⌋,* whose heart is like the heart of the lion. He* will _⌊certainly melt_⌋* with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty warrior and those who are with him are _⌊valiant warriors_⌋.*

¹² therefore, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Look, I am bringing disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah about which the two ears of all who hear it will tingle.

³ Look, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands. ⁴ Your words have raised up the one who stumbles, and you have strengthened knees giving way.

² When it was reported to the house of David, saying "Aram stands by Ephraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the trees of the forest because of the wind.

⁷ Therefore all hands will grow slack, and every human heart will melt,

¹⁹ _⌊As often as it passes through_⌋,* it will take you, for _⌊morning by morning_⌋* it will pass through, in the day and in the night,
and understanding the message will be only terror."

³ Strengthen the weak hands and make the staggering knees firm.

²² Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth. ²³ The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel, and they show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion." ²⁴ We have heard news of it, our hands grow slack, anxiety has grasped us, pain as a woman who gives birth.

¹⁸ "My comfort is gone from me, sorrow is on me, my heart is sick.

²³ Concerning Damascus:
"Hamath and Arpad are ashamed, for they have heard bad news; they melt. There is concern in the sea. It is not able to keep quiet.

⁴³ The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.

¹⁷ Because of this, our heart has become faint, because of these, our eyes have become dim.

² "And you, son of man,* thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: 'The end comes, the end on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is on you, and I will send my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your detestable things. ⁴ And my eye will not take pity on you, and I will not show compassion for your ways; on you I will bring your detestable things; they will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.' ⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! Disaster after disaster is coming! ⁶ The end comes, comes the end! It has awakened against you! Look! It comes! ⁷ Doom is coming against you, the dweller* of the land; the time comes, the day is near, panic and not joy is on the mountains. ⁸ _⌊Soon_⌋* I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things. ⁹ And my eye will not take pity, and I will not show compassion. According to your ways I will _⌊deal with you_⌋,* and your detestable things will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh who strikes.* ¹⁰ Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts. ¹¹ Violence has grown to become a staff of wickedness; _⌊none_⌋* from them will remain, and _⌊none_⌋* from their abundance nor from their wealth;* and prominence will not be among them. ¹² The time has come, the day has arrived; let not the buyer rejoice, and let the seller not mourn, for anger is on all their multitude.

¹⁷ All of the hands will hang limp, and all of _⌊the knees will be wet with urine_⌋.*

²⁶ Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor will be upon rumor. And they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders.

⁹ "Son of man,* did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, 'What are you doing?' ¹⁰ Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and _⌊the entire_⌋* house of Israel _⌊who are among them_⌋." '* ¹¹ Say, 'I am your sign, and _⌊just as_⌋* I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into* captivity they will go.'

²² "Son of man,* what is this proverb _⌊you people have_⌋* about the land of Israel, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊The days are prolonged_⌋,* and every vision has come to nothing.' ²³ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel." ' But* say to them, 'The days are near, and also the word of every vision.' ²⁴ For there will not be any longer _⌊any false vision_⌋* or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak as a word, and it will be done. It will not prolong itself any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁶ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ²⁷ "Son of man,* look! The house of Israel is saying, 'The vision that he is seeing is for many days from now, and for distant times he is prophesying.' ²⁸ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "None of my words will be prolonged any longer that I speak as a word, and it will be fulfilled!" '" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁴⁹ Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, they are saying about me, 'Is he not posing a parable?'"

¹⁹ And the people said to me, "Will you not make known to us what these things that you are doing mean for us?"

²⁶ people fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.*

¹² Therefore strengthen your slackened hands and your weakened knees,

⁷ Now the end of all things draws near. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for your prayers.

²⁵ He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body, and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder; terrors come upon him.

¹¹ God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. ¹² If he* does not repent, he* will sharpen his sword. He has bent his bow and he has _⌊strung_⌋* it. ¹³ And he has prepared for him weapons of death. He has made his arrows fiery shafts.

¹ On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that is in the sea.

⁵ When my sword is drenched in the heavens,
look! It will descend upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban, for judgment. ⁶ _⌊Yahweh has a sword_⌋;*
it is full of blood. It is covered with* fat, with* the blood of lambs and goats, with* the fat of the kidneys of rams, for _⌊Yahweh has a sacrifice_⌋* in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

¹⁶ For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword, and _⌊those slain by_⌋* Yahweh shall be many.

¹² Upon all the barren heights in the desert* destroyers have come, for the sword of Yahweh devours, from one end of the land to the other end of the land, there is no peace for all flesh.

² _⌊And then_⌋* if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh,
"Those who are destined for the plague, to the plague, and those who are destined for the sword, to the sword, and those who are destined for the famine, to the famine, and those who are destined for the captivity, to the captivity." '

³ And you must say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁵ so that a heart melts, and the fallen _⌊multiply_⌋* at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped* for slaughtering.

²⁸ And you, son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and concerning their disgrace,' and you must say, 'A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughtering; it is polished for holding, _⌊for flashing like lightning_⌋,*

⁴ And even if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good."

¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of the _⌊human beings_⌋.*

¹⁵ The couriers went out quickly by order of the king, and the law was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; and the city of Susa was bewildered.*

⁷ I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: "You are my son; today I have begotten you. ⁸ Ask from me and I will make the nations your heritage, and your possession the ends of the earth. ⁹ You will break them with an iron rod. Like a potter's vessel you will shatter them."

²⁶ He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' ²⁷ I will also make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸ Forever I will keep my loyal love for him, and my covenant will be reliable for him. ²⁹ I will also establish his offspring forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens. ³⁰ If his sons forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments, ³¹ if they defile* my statutes and do not keep my commandments, ³² then I will punish their transgression with a rod, and their guilt with wounds.

³⁸ But you have spurned and rejected; you are very angry with your anointed one. ³⁹ You have repudiated the covenant with your servant; you have defiled* his crown in* the dirt. ⁴⁰ You have broken down all his walls; you have made his fortifications a ruin. ⁴¹ All passing along the road plunder him; he has become a taunt to his neighbors. ⁴² You have raised the right hand* of his adversaries. You have made all his enemies rejoice. ⁴³ You have also turned back the edge of his sword and have not helped him stand his ground in the battle. ⁴⁴ You have made his splendor to cease, and cast his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵ You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah

⁵ O Lord, at your right hand he will shatter kings in the day of his anger. ⁶ He will judge among the nations; he will fill them with corpses. He will shatter the _⌊rulers_⌋* of many countries.

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

¹² And there will be lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts, but they do not look at the deeds* of Yahweh, and they do not see the work of his hands. ¹³ Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge, and their* nobles* will be men of hunger, and their* multitude is parched with thirst. ¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat, and it has opened wide its mouth without limit, and her* nobles* will go down, and her multitude, her tumult and those who revel in her.

¹² And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day
for weeping and mourning, and for baldness and girding _⌊with_⌋* sackcloth. ¹³ But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen* and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" ¹⁴ And it was revealed in my ears by Yahweh of hosts:
"Surely this sin will not be atoned for you until you die!" says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

⁴ Harness the horses and mount the steeds! And take your stand with helmets! Polish the spears! Put on the body armor!

¹¹ And _⌊she produced branches of strength_⌋* to* scepters of rulers; its height became tall between* thick foliage, and it was seen* because of its tallness among the abundance of its branches. ¹² But it was uprooted in rage; it was thrown to the earth, and the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off, and its strong branch dried up; fire consumed it. ¹³ And now it is planted in the desert, in a _⌊dry and thirsty land_⌋.* ¹⁴ And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and there was not in it _⌊a strong branch_⌋,* a scepter for ruling.'"
This is a lament, and _⌊it will be used as a lament_⌋.*

²⁵ And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end, ²⁶ thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things are no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high. ²⁷ A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also* this has not ever happened;* it will remain until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it to him.'

³ You that put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of violence! 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. ⁵ Alas for those who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music. ⁶ Alas for those who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. ⁷ Therefore, they shall now go into exile at the head of the exiles and the feast of lounging shall pass away.

¹⁰ For like entangled thorns, and like their drink which is drunk, they will be consumed like fully dry chaff.

³ Chariots charge! Swords flash! Spears glitter! _⌊Many corpses are piled high_⌋!* There is no end to the slain! They stumble over their dead!

¹¹ Sun and moon stood still in their place; at the light of your arrows they moved about; at the gleam of the flashing of your spear.

³⁴ "But take care for yourselves, lest your hearts are weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of daily life, and that day come upon you suddenly ³⁵ like a trap. For it will come upon all who reside on the face of the whole earth.

²⁷ and "he will shepherd them with an iron rod; he will break them in pieces like jars made of clay,"*

⁹ look, I am going to send and take all the clans* of the north,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will send* to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around, and I will destroy them, and I will make them a horror, and an object of hissing, and _⌊everlasting ruins_⌋.*

³³ And the slain ones of Yahweh will be on that day from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and they will not be mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be buried. They will become like dung on the _⌊surface_⌋* of the ground.

²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ And I smash the horse with you, and its rider, and I smash the chariot with you, and its rider. ²² And I smash man and woman with you, and I smash the old man and the boy with you, and I smash the young man and the young woman with you. ²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you, and I smash the farmer and his team with you, and I smash the governors and the officials with you.

³⁴ Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. And roll about in mourning in the dust, O leaders* of the flock. For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived, and you will fall like a vessel of desire.

¹² And they will come, and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh, over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil, and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle. And their life will become like a well-watered garden, and they will never languish again."

¹⁹ For after my turning back I repented, and after coming to understand I struck my thigh. I was ashamed and also humiliated, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'

⁸ _⌊And then_⌋* _⌊as they were striking_⌋,* and I was left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! "Will you be destroying all of the remnant of Israel _⌊while you pour out your rage_⌋* on Jerusalem?"

⁶ And you, son of man,* groan _⌊with shaking hips_⌋,* and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes.

¹⁴ And you, son of man,* prophesy _⌊and clap your hands_⌋.* And the sword will _⌊strike twice_⌋;* let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them,

² "Son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"Wail, alas! For the day!

¹³ Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

⁸ On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the _⌊ostriches_⌋.*

²³ When the whip* kills suddenly, he mocks at the despair of the innocent.

¹⁰ It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, _⌊polished to flash like lightning_⌋!* Or will we rejoice?* A rod, my son, is despising every tree.*

²⁵ And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end,

² that with a great ordeal of affliction, the abundance of their joy and the extreme depth of their poverty have overflowed to the wealth of their generosity.

²¹ " 'And if you go against me in hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then* I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins.

²⁴ then* I myself* will also go against you in hostility, and I myself* also will strike you seven times for your sins.

¹⁰ Then _⌊Balak became angry with_⌋* Balaam, and he clapped his hands and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but look, you have surely blessed them these three times.

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.

²⁵ Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you are about to see on that day when you go _⌊from room to room_⌋* to hide."

¹ In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up because Jehoiakim had become his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

¹⁰ At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and the city came under the siege. ¹¹ Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold. ¹⁴ He deported all of Jerusalem: all of the commanders, ten thousand of the skilled warriors, and the artisans; no one was left over except the poorest of the people of the land. ¹⁵ He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his court officials, and the citizenry of the land he caused to go into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ¹⁶ of all of the skilled men, seven thousand, and of the skilled craftsmen and the artisans, one thousand. All of the mighty warriors _⌊fit for war_⌋* the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

¹ It happened that in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and his army, against Jerusalem. He encamped against it and built siege works against it all around. ² So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of the king. ³ In the ninth month, the famine became severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴ Then the city was breached, and all of the men of war entered by night by way of the gate between the wall which was by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans were against the city all around, so he* left by the way of the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the Arabah of Jericho, and all of his army scattered from him. ⁶ So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and _⌊they passed sentence on him_⌋.* ⁷ They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; then they blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

¹² And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man,* what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, 'Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.'"

¹⁷ And also _⌊I myself_⌋* will _⌊clap my hands_⌋,* and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken."

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with anger and the image of his face was changed _⌊toward_⌋* Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, so he _⌊ordered and said_⌋* to heat up the one furnace seven times what was usual to heat it up.

² If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and even if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted _⌊within me_⌋.*

²⁷ But if you do not listen to me, to declare holy the day of the Sabbath, and to not carry a burden and enter through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be quenched." '"

⁷ And I will set my face against them. From the fire they may_⌊escape_⌋,* but the fire will yet consume them, and they will know that I am Yahweh _⌊when I set my face against them_⌋.*

⁷ _⌊And then_⌋* when they say to you, 'On account of what are you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.' Look! It is coming, and it will happen!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²² In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter,* _⌊to raise the battle cry_⌋,* to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.*

⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you want what is on the left, then I will go right; if you want what is on the right, I will go left."

⁴⁶ And your elder sister, she is Samaria, and her daughters, who are dwelling on your north, and your younger sister is the one dwelling on your south; she is Sodom and her daughters.

⁴ Because* I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to* all creatures* from south to north.

²⁰ You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified.

⁶³ _⌊And then_⌋* as Yahweh delighted over you _⌊to make you prosperous_⌋* to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you* and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it.

²⁴ Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes.

¹³ And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion _⌊when I fully vent my rage against them_⌋.*

⁴² And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry any longer.

¹³ And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you.

⁸ And he cried out to me and said to me, "See those going out to the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country."

¹⁰ See, I appoint you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, and to destroy and to tear down, to build and to plant."

¹ "Now,* son of man,* take for yourself a brick, and you must put it _⌊before you_⌋,* and you must portray on it a city, Jerusalem. ² And you must build against it siege works, and you must build against it a bulwark, and you must heap against it a siege ramp, and you must set up against it camps and put against it a battering ram all around. ³ And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it as a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be _⌊under siege_⌋,* and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel.

¹ "And you, son of man,* take for yourself* a sword, sharp as _⌊a barber's razor_⌋.* Take it for yourself, and you must cause it to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.* ² A third you must burn with fire in the midst* of the city at _⌊the completion_⌋* of the days of the siege, and you must take a third, and you must strike it with the sword around it, and a third you must scatter to the wind, and I will draw a sword behind them. ³ And you must take from these a few in number, and you must tuck them in your hem. ⁴ And from them again you shall take some, and you must throw them in the middle of the fire, and you must burn them with fire; from it a fire will go out to all of the house of Israel. ⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations where I have put her, and countries are around her. ⁶ But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they rejected my regulations, and as for my statutes, they did not walk in them. ⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your commotion more than the nations that are around you—you did not walk in my statutes, and you did not do my regulations, and according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you did not do. ⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look! I, _⌊even I_⌋,* am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you before the eyes of the nations, ⁹ and I will do with you that which I have not done, and which I will not do again, because of all of your detestable things. ¹⁰ Therefore* parents* will eat children* in the midst of you, and children* will eat their parents,* and I will execute judgment in you, and I will scatter your entire remnant to every wind. ¹¹ Therefore _⌊as surely as I live_⌋,* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, _⌊Surely_⌋* because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, _⌊now indeed I_⌋* will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion. ¹² A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw the sword behind them. ¹³ And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion _⌊when I fully vent my rage against them_⌋.* ¹⁴ And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of _⌊every one who passes by_⌋.* ¹⁵ And it will be* an object of taunting* and an object of mockery, a warning and a horror to the nations that are around you whenever I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in furious punishments! I, Yahweh, have spoken! ¹⁶ When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send in order to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break _⌊the supply of food_⌋* for you. ¹⁷ And I will send against you famine and fierce animals,* and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!"

¹¹ (For only Og, king of Bashan, was left from the remnant of the Rephaim. Indeed, his bedstead—it was a bedstead of iron. It is in Rabbah of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋.* Nine cubits is its length, and four cubits is its width according to the cubit of a man.)

⁹ David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around it from the Millo and _⌊inward_⌋.*

²⁶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* and he captured _⌊the royal city_⌋.*

⁹ And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.

⁵ Then he strengthened himself and built up all the walls that were broken down, and raised towers upon them and another wall _⌊outside_⌋.* And he strengthened the Millo of the city of David and made much weaponry and small shields.

¹⁴ Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹² Walk about Zion and circle it; count her towers. ¹³ _⌊Consider well_⌋* her ramparts. Go through her citadels so that you can tell the next generation

¹ A song of ascents.*
Those who trust in Yahweh are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. ² As mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Yahweh is round about his people, from now until forever.

¹⁰ And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

² _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will sound against Rabbah, the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* the alarm of the war, and it will become as a mound of desolation, and its daughters will burn in the fire. Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors," says Yahweh.

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe, and all the inhabitants of the world, that a foe and an enemy could enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

⁵ And I will make Rabbah as a pasture of camels and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* as a haunt of flocks, and they will know that I am Yahweh." '"

¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah and it will devour its citadel fortresses with a war cry on the day of battle, with a storm on the day of the violent tempest.

¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols* that belonged to her father.

³⁰ Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, but why did you steal my gods?"

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went with a fee for divination in their hand; they came to Balaam and spoke the words of Balak to him.

²³ Because there is no sorcery against Jacob, and there is no divination against Israel. Now* it will be said to Jacob and Israel, what God has done!

²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down on the face of the Jeshimon.*

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or _⌊one who practices divination_⌋,* or an interpreter of signs,* or an augur,* or sorcerer,

⁵ The man Micah had for himself _⌊a shrine_⌋,* and he made an ephod and teraphim, and _⌊he appointed one of his sons_⌋* who became a priest for him.

¹⁴ And the five men that went out to spy out the land (that is, Laish) responded and said to their relatives,* "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do."

¹⁸ When these went to Micah's house, they took the divine carved image, ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest asked them, "What are you doing?"

²⁰ _⌊The priest accepted the offer_⌋,* and he took the ephod, teraphim, and molten image and went along with the people.

²⁴ He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go away. What is now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!"

²⁴ Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of Yahweh.

¹⁰ A decision is upon the lips of a king; in judgment his mouth will not sin.

³³ The lot will be cast into the lap, but all of its decisions are from Yahweh.

¹ Streams of water are the heart* of a king in the hand of Yahweh; _⌊wherever_⌋* he will desire, he will turn.

⁴ The children of Israel will remain for many days without a king and prince, without sacrifice and stone pillar, ephod and teraphim.

¹² My people, consult _⌊their wooden idols_⌋,* and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led them astray, and they played the whore from under their God.*

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.

¹⁶ And it happened that as* we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination* met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners by* fortune-telling.

¹⁷ And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, "A sound of war is in the camp." ¹⁸ But he said, "There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing."

¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You will not shout, and you will not let your voice be heard; a word will not go out from your mouth until the day I say to you 'Shout!' Then you will shout."

²⁰ So the people shouted, and they* blew on the trumpets. And when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell flat. _⌊The people charged, each one straight ahead into the city_⌋,* and they captured it.

²⁰ David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops were going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry.

²⁵ _⌊Whenever_⌋* a horn sounds, it says, 'Aha!' And it smells the battle from a distance— the thunder of the commanders and the war cry.

²⁴ Look, the siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you are seeing it.*

⁴ For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, that were torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword:

¹⁴ Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,* and they will sing over you a war cry."

⁴ _⌊And then_⌋* in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works* against it all around.

² And you must build against it siege works, and you must build against it a bulwark, and you must heap against it a siege ramp, and you must set up against it camps and put against it a battering ram all around.

⁹ and the thrust of his battering ram he will direct against your walls, and your towers he will break down with his weapons.

¹⁵ he will bring his wife to the priest. And he will bring her offering for her, one-tenth of an ephah of flour. He will not pour oil on it, and he will not put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembering,* a reminding of guilt.

¹⁸ She said to Elijah, "_⌊What do you have against me_⌋,* O man of God, that you have come to me to make known my guilt and to cause my son to die?"

²⁰ For it happened because of the anger of Yahweh, in Jerusalem and in Judah, until they were cast out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

¹³ And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery, rulers of these people in Jerusalem: ¹⁵ Because you have said,
"We have _⌊made_⌋* a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol.
The overwhelming flood, when it passes through, will not come to us,
for we have made lies* our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves in falsehood."

³ For because of the _⌊anger_⌋* of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his _⌊presence_⌋.* And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴ _⌊And then_⌋* in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works* against it all around. ⁵ So the city came _⌊under siege_⌋* until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then the city was breached, and all _⌊the soldiers_⌋* fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls that are at the garden of the king, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went in the direction of the Jordan Valley.* ⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹ Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and _⌊he passed sentence on him_⌋.* ¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. ¹¹ Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon. And he put him in _⌊prison_⌋* until the day of his death.

³ who are saying, "The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh.

²² "Son of man,* what is this proverb _⌊you people have_⌋* about the land of Israel, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊The days are prolonged_⌋,* and every vision has come to nothing.'

¹³ And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and _⌊he brought him under oath_⌋,* and he took the rulers of the land, ¹⁴ so that they would be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant _⌊in order for it to stand_⌋.* ¹⁵ But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these things, and can he break the covenant and escape? ¹⁶ _⌊As I live_⌋,'* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, '_⌊surely_⌋* in the place of the king _⌊who made_⌋* him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him—in the midst of Babylon he will die. ¹⁷ And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work* with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives. ¹⁸ And he despised the oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand in pledge, and yet he did all of these things. He will not escape.' ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: '_⌊As I live_⌋,* _⌊surely_⌋* my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head.

²⁴ "Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear—because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.'

¹⁶ And it will not be again for the house of Israel an object of trust, bringing to remembrance their guilt _⌊when they turned back to them_⌋,* and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh."

¹⁹ And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his furious wrath.*

⁹ The look on their faces testifies against them and they declare their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have dealt out evil to themselves.

¹⁷ Look! Yahweh is about to _⌊really hurl_⌋* you, man! And he is about to grasp you firmly; ¹⁸ he will wind a winding tightly around you like a ball, to a _⌊wide land_⌋.* There you shall die, and there the chariots of your splendor will be, disgrace to your master's house!

³⁴ Also on your skirts is found the blood of the life of the innocent, the poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these things,

² "Lift up your eyes at the barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert,* and you have defiled the land with your fornication and with your wickedness.

²⁷ Like a cage full of birds,* so their houses are full of fraud. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they have become great, and they have become rich. ²⁸ They have grown fat, they have grown sleek, also, _⌊their evil deeds have no limit_⌋.* They do not judge with justice, the legal cause of the orphan, or allow it to succeed, and the legal case of the poor, they do not defend.

¹⁵ Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing? Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall at the time I punish them, they will stumble," says Yahweh.

¹² Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse,* they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

² _⌊Oh that I had_⌋* in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors. ³ And they bend their tongue like their bow, for falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth* from evil to evil, and they do not know me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴ "Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor, and you must not trust in any brother, for everyone surely betrays, and every neighbor goes about with slander. ⁵ And everyone deceives his neighbor, and they do not speak the truth, they have taught their tongues* to speak lies,* they are tired from going astray. ⁶ Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, upon* deceit they refuse to know me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Look, I am about to refine them, and I will test them, for what else can I do, because of the _⌊presence_⌋* of the daughter of my people?

¹⁶ And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful* shrines, and you prostituted on them; _⌊this had not happened before_⌋,* and it _⌊will not continue to happen_⌋.* ¹⁷ And you took _⌊your beautiful jewelry_⌋* made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself _⌊male images_⌋,* and you prostituted with them. ¹⁸ And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set _⌊before them_⌋.* ¹⁹ And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it _⌊before them_⌋* as a _⌊pleasing odor_⌋,* and so it was,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁰ 'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,* _⌊as if your whorings were not enough_⌋.* ²¹ And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them _⌊to be sacrificed to them_⌋.* ²² And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood _⌊when you were naked and bare_⌋,* when you were kicking about in your blood.

³ And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; _⌊its time has come_⌋,* and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. ⁴ By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, _⌊and your appointed years have come_⌋.* Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries. ⁵ The people near and the people far from you will make fun of you, _⌊the unclean and the terrified_⌋.* ⁶ Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,* they are in you _⌊for the shedding of blood_⌋.* ⁷ They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; _⌊they violated_⌋* the alien with* extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow. ⁸ You despised my holy objects; my Sabbaths you profaned. ⁹ Slanderous men are _⌊among you_⌋* to shed blood, and they, _⌊among you_⌋,* eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. ¹⁰ They uncover the nakedness of a father among* you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among* you. ¹¹ And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among* you his sister, the daughter of his father. ¹² They take a bribe among* you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain from your neighbors by extortion, and so you have forgotten me, _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²⁴ "Son of man,* say to her, 'You are a land not cleansed; it is not rained upon in the day of indignation.' ²⁵ The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. ²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. 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. ²⁹ They severely oppress the people of the land, and _⌊they committed robbery_⌋,* and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien _⌊without_⌋* justice. ³⁰ And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach _⌊before me_⌋* on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone, ³¹ and so I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁵ And Oholah prostituted herself _⌊while she was still mine_⌋,* and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, ⁶ clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, _⌊handsome young men_⌋* and all of them horsemen, _⌊experts on horseback_⌋.* ⁷ And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. ⁹ Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* _⌊after whom she lusted_⌋.* ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her. ¹¹ "And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust _⌊she behaved more corruptly than her_⌋,* and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* governors and prefects, warriors* clothed in* perfection,* _⌊expert horsemen_⌋,* all of them _⌊handsome young men_⌋.* ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; _⌊they had both taken the same path_⌋!* ¹⁴ And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved* on the wall, images of Chaldeans* carved in red, ¹⁵ belted with a belt at* their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,* the image* of the _⌊Babylonians_⌋;* Chaldea was the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And she lusted for them _⌊when her eyes saw them_⌋,* and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. ¹⁷ And so the _⌊Babylonians_⌋* came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. ¹⁸ And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her _⌊just as_⌋* I turned from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet* she increased her whorings, _⌊recalling_⌋* the days of her childhood when she was prostituted* in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. ²¹ And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.

⁷ For her blood was in the midst of her; _⌊she put it on a bare rock_⌋;* she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.*

² Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out,* and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

¹ I saw my Lord standing by the altar and he said, "Strike the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and shatter them on the head of all of them, and I will kill the rest of them with the sword. A fugitive belonging to them will not run away, and a survivor belonging to them will not escape. ² If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and even if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. ³ And even if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and will take them, and even if they hide from before my eyes at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the sea serpent and it will bite them.

¹⁰ he who builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness. 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." ¹² Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and _⌊the temple mount_⌋* as a high place in a forest.

⁹ Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, and test the hearts and innermost being, O righteous God.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations; you have destroyed the wicked. Their name you have blotted out forever and ever. ⁶ The enemies are destroyed in ruins forever, and you have uprooted their cities; their very memory has perished.

⁸ But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality—for thus says Yahweh—so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.

¹³ O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, _⌊the measure of your life_⌋.*

² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done.

⁶ The end comes, comes the end! It has awakened against you! Look! It comes!

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: '_⌊As I live_⌋,* _⌊surely_⌋* my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head.

²⁹ when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give* you on the neck of the profane ones of the wicked, _⌊whose day has come_⌋,* _⌊the time of final punishment_⌋.*

³ For a day is near; indeed, a day is near for Yahweh. A day of cloud, a time of the nations it will be.

⁵ because there has been to you _⌊an ancient hostility_⌋,* and you handed over the _⌊Israelites_⌋* to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of _⌊their final punishment_⌋.*

⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and also exalts. ⁸ He raises up the poor from the dust. From the ash heap he lifts up the needy, to cause them to sit with noble people and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh and he has set the inhabited world on them.

⁶ So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and _⌊they passed sentence on him_⌋.*

²⁷ It happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month on the twenty-seventh of the month, lifted Evil-Merodach king of Babylon in the year that he became king, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from the house of imprisonment.

⁷ rather God is the judge; one he brings low, and another he lifts up.

⁷ He raises the helpless from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, ⁸ to seat them with princes, with the princes of his people.

¹⁸ "Say to the king and to the queen mother, '_⌊Take a lower seat_⌋,* for _⌊your beautiful crown_⌋* has come down from your head.'*

⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and tied him up with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon.

³¹ _⌊And then_⌋* in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and brought him out from _⌊prison_⌋.* ³² Then he spoke with him kindly and gave his seat above the seats* of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So he changed the garments of his imprisonment and he ate food _⌊before him_⌋* continually all the days of his life. ³⁴ And his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon _⌊on a daily basis_⌋* all the days of his life up to the day of his death.

¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹² And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, and* he will go out; _⌊the wall will be dug through_⌋* to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will* not see the land with his* eye. ¹³ And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

¹² And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a _⌊beautiful crown_⌋* on your head.

²⁴ And all of the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, I will bring low a high tree, and I will exalt a low, fresh tree, and I will make a dry tree flourish. I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do it.'"

⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.

¹⁹ Someone* from Jacob will rule and will destroy a remnant* from the city."

⁶ "But as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain."

⁷ May what is right blossom in his days and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. ⁸ And may he rule from sea up to sea, and from the River* to the edges of the land. ⁹ Let the desert dwellers bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. ¹⁰ Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,

⁶ For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ _⌊His dominion will grow continually, and to peace there will be no end_⌋* on* the throne of David and over* his kingdom, to establish it* and sustain it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.

⁵ "Look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king, and he will achieve success, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* and this is his name by which he will be called: 'Yahweh is our righteousness.'

²¹ And their noble will be from them, and their ruler will come out from their midst. And I will bring him near and he will approach me. For who is he that would pledge his heart to approach me?' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹⁵ In those days and in that time I will make a branch of righteousness sprout for David, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell _⌊safely_⌋,* and this is what they shall call it: "Yahweh is our righteousness." '

²¹ then my covenant could be broken with David my servant, from _⌊having_⌋* a son who could rule on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.

²⁶ then the offspring of Jacob and David my servant I would reject, from choosing rulers from his offspring over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will restore their fortunes* and I will have compassion on them.'"

²² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And I will take, even I, from the treetop of the high cedar, and I will plant it, from the head of its new plant shoot I will pluck a tender one, and I will plant it, even I, on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the height of the mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it will carry* branches,* and it will bear fruit, and _⌊it will become a noble cedar_⌋,* and all of the birds of all wings* will dwell under it in the shade of its branches.

¹³ For _⌊examine_⌋!* And what if also the rod will not be despising?' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²³ And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he will feed them; that is, my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be for them as* a shepherd.

²⁴ " '"And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. ²⁵ And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, _⌊in which your ancestors dwelled_⌋,* and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children _⌊forever_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader for them _⌊forever_⌋.*

⁴⁴ And _⌊in the day of those kings_⌋,* the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will _⌊never_⌋* be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation,* and it will bring an end to all these kingdoms, but it will stand _⌊forever_⌋.*

²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.*

⁵ Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king. They will come in fear to Yahweh and to his goodness at the end of days.

¹¹ On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old. ¹² Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations _⌊who are called by my name_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, who does this.

² But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go out for me, to be ruler in Israel; and his origins are from of old, from ancient days.

⁷ I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house* with glory,' says Yahweh of hosts.

²¹ "Say to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the military strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, every one by the sword of another!

¹² And say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, here is a man whose name is Branch,* and from his place he will sprout, and he will build the temple of Yahweh. ¹³ And he will build the temple of Yahweh, and he will bear majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two of them." '*

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a male donkey, _⌊the foal of_⌋* a female donkey!

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts.

² But for you who revere* my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like _⌊fattened calves_⌋.*

¹⁸ And Jesus approached and* spoke to them, saying, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

³² This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

¹¹ that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.

⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.*

⁹ The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.

²⁰ which he has worked* in Christ, raising* him from the dead and seating him* at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this age but also in the coming one, ²² and he subjected all things under his feet* and gave him as head over all things to the church,

⁹ Therefore also God exalted him and graciously granted him the name above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth,

²⁶ whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying,
"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven."* ²⁷ Now the phrase "yet once more" indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain.

²² who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, with angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to him.

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called "Faithful" and "True," and with justice* he judges and makes war. ¹² Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. ¹³ And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod,* and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁶ And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords."

¹ Concerning the _⌊Ammonites_⌋:* Thus says Yahweh,
"Are there no sons for Israel? Or is there no heir for him? Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad, and his people dwelled in its towns? ² _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will sound against Rabbah, the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* the alarm of the war, and it will become as a mound of desolation, and its daughters will burn in the fire. Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors," says Yahweh. ³ "Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth. Lament and run back and forth among the walls. For Milcom will go into exile, his priests and his officials together. ⁴ Why do you boast in your valleys? Your valleys* are ebbing. O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures, who said, 'Who will come against me?' ⁵ Look, I am going to bring dread on you," _⌊declares_⌋* Lord Yahweh of hosts, "from all your surrounding neighbors. And you will be scattered, each one _⌊before it_⌋,* and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.*

⁹ "Son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord,' say, 'A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. ¹⁰ It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, _⌊polished to flash like lightning_⌋!* Or will we rejoice?* A rod, my son, is despising every tree.*

² "Son of man,* set your face toward the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and prophesy against them, ³ and you must say to the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* 'Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because of your saying, 'Ah!' to my sanctuary when it was profaned, and to the land of Israel when it was* desolate, and to the house of Judah when they went into the exile, ⁴ therefore look! I am giving you to the people* of the East as a possession, and they will set up their encampments in you, and they will make in you their dwelling places; _⌊they themselves_⌋* will eat your fruit and _⌊they themselves_⌋* will drink your milk. ⁵ And I will make Rabbah as a pasture of camels and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* as a haunt of flocks, and they will know that I am Yahweh." '" ⁶ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because of clapping your hand and stamping with your foot, and because you rejoiced in* yourself with all of your malice over the land of Israel, ⁷ therefore look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I will give you as plunder* to the nations, and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will destroy you from the countries, and I will wipe you out, and you will know that I am Yahweh."

¹³ Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Ammon and for four I will not revoke the punishment,* because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory! ¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah and it will devour its citadel fortresses with a war cry on the day of battle, with a storm on the day of the violent tempest. ¹⁵ And their king will go into exile, he and his commanders together," says Yahweh.

⁸ I have heard the reproaches of Moab and the scorning of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* with which they have taunted my nation and made boasts against their territory. ⁹ "Therefore, as I live"—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel— "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* like Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them." ¹⁰ This shall be for them in place of their pride because they mocked and boasted against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

²⁰ Those of the west are appalled over _⌊his fate_⌋,* and those of the east _⌊are seized with horror_⌋.*

¹³ The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming.

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,

¹³ You struggle with your many consultations;* let them stand, now, and save you— those who see the stars, divide the _⌊celestial sphere_⌋,* who inform by new moons— from those things that are coming upon you.

⁹ And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.'

¹⁴ Your prophets had a vision for you, false and worthless; they have not exposed your sin, to restore your fortune; they have seen oracles for you, false and misleading.

²⁴ For there will not be any longer _⌊any false vision_⌋* or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

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_⌋.*

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.

²³ Therefore falseness* you will not see,* and divination you will not practice* any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh!'"

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.

¹⁴ And also the nation that they* serve I will judge. Then* afterward they shall go out with great possessions.

³ and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,* your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, _⌊on the day you were born_⌋* your umbilical cord was not cut, and _⌊you were not thoroughly washed clean with water_⌋,* and _⌊you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt_⌋,* and _⌊you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth_⌋.*

³⁸ And I will judge you with the judgment of women committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you the blood of rage and jealousy.

⁴ Because* I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to* all creatures* from south to north. ⁵ And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!" '

¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was your adornment: carnelian, topaz and moonstone,* turquoise, onyx and jasper, sapphire,* malachite and emerald. And gold was the craftsmanship of your settings and your mountings in you; on the day when you were created they were prepared.

¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways from the day _⌊when you were created_⌋,* until wickedness was found in you.

¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea became visible, and the foundations of the world were uncovered by your rebuke, O Yahweh, by the _⌊blast_⌋* of the wind of your nose.

⁴ that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon, and you will say: "How the oppressor has ceased! his insolence* has ceased. ⁵ Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled the nations in anger _⌊with unrestrained persecution_⌋.*

³³ For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday; indeed, it is made ready for the king. He makes its pile of wood deep and wide; he makes fire and wood _⌊abundant_⌋.* The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.

⁷ Look! I am about to _⌊put_⌋* a spirit in him _⌊so that_⌋* he shall hear a rumor and he shall return to his land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land." '"

⁷ Grass withers; the flower withers when the breath of Yahweh blows on it. Surely the people are grass.

⁷ A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has gone out from his place to make your land as a horror, your cities will go to ruin _⌊without_⌋* inhabitant.

²² Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth. ²³ The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel, and they show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion."

⁸ _⌊Soon_⌋* I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things.

¹⁹ And if I were to send a plague to that land, and I pour out my rage on it with blood to cut it off, both human and animal,

²⁰ like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will _⌊deposit_⌋* you, and I will melt you. ²¹ And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and so I will melt you in the midst of her. ²² Thus you will be melted like the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have poured out my rage on you.'"

⁶ His indignation—who can stand before it? Who can endure _⌊his fierce anger_⌋?* His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before* him.

⁶ For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and impetuous nation, the one who walks through the spacious places of earth to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.* ⁷ They* are dreadful and awesome; their* justice and their* dignity proceed from themselves.* ⁸ Their* horses are more swift than leopards; they are more menacing than wolves at dusk. Their* horsemen gallop; their* horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle that is swift to devour. ⁹ All of them* come for violence, their faces pressing forward. They gather captives like the sand. ¹⁰ And they themselves scoff at kings and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortification, and they heap up earth and take it.

⁹ 'You have looked for much, and look! It came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts. 'Because my house is desolate and you are running each to your own house!

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?

³ And their slain shall be cast out; as for* their corpses, their stench shall go up. And the mountains shall melt with* their blood, ⁴ and all the host of heaven shall rot. And the skies shall roll up like a scroll, and all their host shall wither like the withering of a leaf from a vine, or* like the withering from a fig tree. ⁵ When my sword is drenched in the heavens,
look! It will descend upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban, for judgment. ⁶ _⌊Yahweh has a sword_⌋;*
it is full of blood. It is covered with* fat, with* the blood of lambs and goats, with* the fat of the kidneys of rams, for _⌊Yahweh has a sacrifice_⌋* in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. ⁷ And wild oxen shall go down with them, and steers with strong bulls. And their land shall be drenched with* blood, and their soil shall be fattened with* fat.

⁴⁷ And you must say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; the blaze of the flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸ And all creatures will see that I, Yahweh, I kindled it—it will not be quenched!" '"

¹⁰ I will give it to the people* of the East in addition to the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* as a possession, so that the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* will not be remembered among the nations.

⁹ "Therefore, as I live"—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel— "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* like Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them."

¹ * "For look! The day is about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every _⌊evildoer_⌋* will be stubble. The coming day will consume* them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.

¹⁰ Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹² His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

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