Isaiah Cross References - LEB

¹ The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ² Hear, heavens, and listen, earth, for Yahweh has spoken: "I reared children and I brought them up, but they rebelled against me. ³ An ox knows its owner and a donkey the manger of its master. Israel does not know; my people do not understand. ⁴ Ah, sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh; they have despised the holy one of Israel. They are estranged and gone backward. ⁵ Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue in rebellion. The whole of the head is sick, and the whole of the heart is faint. ⁶ From the sole of the foot and up to the head there is no health in it; bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed, and they have not been bound up and not softened with the oil. ⁷ Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; As for your land, aliens are devouring it in your presence, and it is desolate, like devastation by foreigners. ⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a city that is besieged.* ⁹ If Yahweh of hosts had not left us survivors,* we would have been as few as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah. ¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah! ¹¹ What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals and I do not delight in the blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? ¹³ You must not _⌊continue_⌋* to bring offerings* of futility, incense—it is an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation— I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like a burden, I am not able to bear them. ¹⁵ And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,* I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed! Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow! ¹⁸ "Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and you are obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. ²⁰ But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.
For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken." ²¹ How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. ²² Your silver has become as dross; Your wine is diluted with waters. ²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan and the legal dispute of the widow does not come before them. 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. ²⁵ And I will turn my hand against you; I will purify your dross like lye, and I will remove all of your tin. ²⁶ And I will restore your judges, as at the first, and your counselors, as at the beginning. After this _⌊you will be called_⌋* the city of righteousness, faithful city. ²⁷ Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those of her who repent, by righteousness. ²⁸ But the destruction of rebels and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh will perish. ²⁹ For you* will be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted, and you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen. ³⁰ For you shall be like an oak withering its leaves, and like a garden where there is no water for her. ³¹ And the strong man shall become like tinder, and his work like a spark. And both of them shall burn together, and there is not one to quench them."

⁶ and he said,
"Please hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak to him in a dream.*

⁴ the declaration of the hearer of God's words,* who sees the revelation of Shaddai,* falling down but whose eyes are uncovered.

¹⁶ the declaration of the hearer of God's words,* and the knower of the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of Shaddai,* who is falling, and his eyes are revealed.

¹ In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.

⁷ So Azariah slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him with his ancestors* in the city of David, and Jotham his son became king in his place.

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign.

¹ It happened in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did right in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that David his ancestor* had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, and he smashed the stone pillars; he cut down the poles of Asherah worship and demolished the bronze serpent which Moses had made, for up to those days the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were offering incense to it and called it Nehushtan. ⁵ He trusted in Yahweh the God of Israel; there was no one like him, before or after, among all the kings of Judah. ⁶ He held on to Yahweh; he did not depart from following him, and he kept his commands that Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁷ Yahweh was with him; everywhere he went, he succeeded. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ He attacked the Philistines up to Gaza and its territory from the watchtower up to the fortified city. ⁹ It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that is, the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. ¹⁰ At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen to nor did they obey. ¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found in the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. ¹⁶ At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the _⌊chief advisor_⌋* from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came to Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the _⌊washer's_⌋* field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them. ¹⁹ Then the chief advisor said to them, "Please say to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What is this confidence that you trust? ²⁰ You think only a word of lips, 'I have advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Now, look! You _⌊rely_⌋* on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which when a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him!

¹ It happened that when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went to the temple of Yahweh. ² He sent Eliakim who was over the palace, Shebna the secretary, the elders, and the priests, all clothed in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'A day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace is this day, for the children _⌊are about to be born_⌋,* but there is no strength to bear them. ⁴ Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all of the words of the chief commander whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to insult the living God, and he will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remainder who are left.'" ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ and Isaiah said to them, "Thus you must say to your master, 'Thus says Yahweh, "You must not be afraid because the face of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷ Look, I am putting in him a spirit. He will hear a rumor and return to his land. Then I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land." '" ⁸ When the chief commander returned, he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. ⁹ He heard about Tirhakah, the king of Cush, saying, "Look, he has set out to fight with you," so he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ "Thus you shall say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, 'Let not your God whom you are trusting deceive you, by his saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ¹¹ Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by utterly destroying them, and shall you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that my _⌊predecessors_⌋* destroyed deliver them? Not Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, nor the children of Eden who were in Tel Assar. ¹³ Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'" ¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers and read them. Then he went up to the temple of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. ¹⁵ Then Hezekiah prayed before the face of Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel who lives above the cherubim. You are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the world; you have made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶ Incline your ears and hear; open, O Yahweh, your eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to insult the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have utterly destroyed the nations and their land. ¹⁸ He has hurled their gods in the fire because they are not gods, but the work of the hands of a human made of wood and stone, so they destroyed them. ¹⁹ So then, O Yahweh our God, rescue us, please, from his hand, that all of the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Yahweh, you alone are God!" ²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'What you have prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. ²¹ This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:
She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion. Behind you the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head.

¹ In those days Hezekiah became _⌊deathly ill_⌋,* and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet came to him and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Command your house, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'" ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³ "O Yahweh, please remember how I went about before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and remember the good that I have done in your eyes." Then Hezekiah _⌊wept bitterly_⌋.* ⁴ Isaiah had not gone out from the middle of the city when the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵ "Return; you must say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'Thus says Yahweh the God of David your ancestor,* "I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Look, I am about to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." '" ⁷ Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs," so they took and put it on the skin sores, and he lived. ⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day to the temple of Yahweh?" ⁹ Isaiah said, "This is the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?" ¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backwards ten steps." ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet called to Yahweh, and he brought back the shadow on the steps where it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz, backwards ten steps. ¹² At that time, Berodak-Baladan the son of Baladan king of _⌊Babylon_⌋* sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah heard about them and showed them all of the house of his treasure, both the silver and the gold, the spices, the good olive oil, the room of his weapons, and all that could be found in his treasuries. There was nothing that he did not show them in his palace and in all of his kingdom. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" Hezekiah said, "From a far land; they have come from Babylon." ¹⁵ Then he asked, "What did they see in your palace?" And Hezekiah said, "All that is in my palace they have seen; there is nothing that I did not show them in my treasuries." ¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh! ¹⁷ 'Look, days are coming when all that is in your palace will be carried off; even all that your ancestors* have stored up until this day, to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says Yahweh. ¹⁸ 'Your sons who went out from you, whom you brought forth, will be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the temple of the king of Babylon.'" ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good," and he thought, "Is it not that peace and security shall be in my days?" ²⁰ Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful deeds, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Then Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

¹ Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (now he was sixteen years old) and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. ² He built Elath and returned it to Judah after the king slept with his ancestors.* ³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. And the name of his mother was Yecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done. ⁵ And he began to seek* God in the days of Zechariah who was teaching in visions of God. And _⌊whenever_⌋* he sought Yahweh God made him have success. ⁶ And he went out and made war against the Philistines, and he broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who were living in Gur-Baal and Meunim. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame* went out to the boundary* of Egypt, for he became _⌊very strong_⌋.* ⁹ And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the desert and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the Shephelah and on the plain, along with farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ And Uzziah had troops _⌊trained and ready for war_⌋* in divisions according to the number of their enrollment at the hand of Jeuel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah of the king's commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of the _⌊families_⌋* for mighty warriors of strength was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their hand were army troops numbering three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who could make war with power and strength to help the king against an enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared small shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the whole army. ¹⁵ And he made siege machines in Jerusalem designed by skillful men to be set upon the towers and upon the corners to shoot arrows and large slingstones. And his fame* went out far, for he helped marvelously, for he was strong. ¹⁶ But on account of his strength his heart grew proud unto destruction. And he acted unfaithfully against Yahweh his God and went into the temple of Yahweh to offer an incense offering on the altar. ¹⁷ And Azariah the priest, along with eighty strong priests with him, went in after him. ¹⁸ And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but it is for the priests, the descendants* of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God." ¹⁹ Then Uzziah, his censer in hand to burn incense, became angry. And when he became angry with the priests, then leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of Yahweh at the altar of incense. ²⁰ When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him, behold, he was leprous in the forehead. So they rushed him away from there, and he also hastened to go out, for Yahweh had smitten him. ²¹ So King Uzziah was leprous until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over the house of the king, judging the people of the land. ²² Now the remainder of the words of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote them. ²³ And Uzziah slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him with his ancestors* in the burial field which belonged to the kings, because, they said, "He was leprous." And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

¹ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done—only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and _⌊he did much restoration_⌋* on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places. ⁵ Now he fought with the king of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and prevailed against them. And the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* gave to him in that year one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures of wheat and ten thousand measures of barley. This is what the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* rendered to him, as well as in the second and third year. ⁶ And Jotham strengthened himself, for he established his ways before Yahweh his God. ⁷ Now the remainder of the words of Jotham and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Ahaz became king in his place.

¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.* ² But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals. ³ And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree. ⁵ Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram* who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack. ⁶ And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed in one day one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all men of strength, because they forsook Yahweh the God of their ancestors.* ⁷ And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the commander of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king. ⁸ And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria. ⁹ Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded was his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, "Look, it is on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* against Judah that he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. ¹⁰ So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. _⌊Is there not also guilt on your part_⌋* against Yahweh your God? ¹¹ So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh is against you." ¹² Then men from the heads of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—stood against those returning from the fight. ¹³ And they said to them, "You shall not bring the captives here, for it is as guilt against Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and there is great anger against Israel." ¹⁴ So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys provided for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria. ¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, ¹⁷ since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives. ¹⁸ And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹ For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²⁰ Then Tiglath-Pileser* the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, _⌊instead of helping him_⌋,* ²¹ for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him. ²² And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²³ He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the king of Aram* helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me." But they were _⌊a disaster_⌋* to him and to all Israel. ²⁴ Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ And _⌊in every city_⌋* of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors,* to anger. ²⁶ Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

¹ Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. ³ In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. ⁵ And he said to them, "Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶ For our ancestors* acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. _⌊They have turned their backs_⌋* on it. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸ And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this. ¹⁰ Now _⌊it is in my heart_⌋* to _⌊make_⌋* a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. ¹¹ Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners." ¹² Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. ¹³ And from the descendants* of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants* of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and from the descendants* of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants* of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— ¹⁵ and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi* Kidron. ¹⁷ And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸ And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects, ¹⁹ and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh." ²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants* of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. ²² And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. ²³ Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them. ²⁴ And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel. ²⁵ And he stood the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command was by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets. ²⁶ When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets, ²⁷ Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all together until the end of the burnt offering. ²⁹ And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped. ³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now _⌊you have consecrated yourselves_⌋* to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs—all these were to offer to Yahweh. ³³ And the consecrated offerings of cattle were six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep.

¹ Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ² Now the king and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to make the Passover feast in the second month— ³ but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves _⌊in sufficient numbers_⌋,* and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴ and the plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. ⁵ So they let the decree stand, _⌊to make a proclamation_⌋* throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ⁶ And the runners went with the letter from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah according to the command of the king, saying, "O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* so that he made them as a desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers,* but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before their captors and return to this land, for Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him." ¹⁰ And it happened that the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and up to Zebulun, but they were laughing at them and mocking them. ¹¹ Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also upon Judah, to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and the princes concerning the word of Yahweh. ¹³ So many people gathered in Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very great assembly. ¹⁴ And they rose up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem. And they removed all the incense altars and threw them away in the Wadi* Kidron. ¹⁵ And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were disgraced, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶ Then they stood at their positions according to custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites were over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who were not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh. ¹⁸ For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice _⌊otherwise than prescribed_⌋,* but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Yahweh make atonement unto ¹⁹ everyone whose heart is set to seek God, Yahweh the God of his ancestors,* though not according to the cleansing for the sanctuary." ²⁰ And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people. ²¹ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* who were found in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests were offering praise to Yahweh day by day, with powerful instruments to Yahweh. ²² And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites _⌊who were skilled at service_⌋* to Yahweh. So they ate the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.* ²³ Then the whole assembly decided to make seven more days of feasting, so they made seven more days with joy, ²⁴ for Hezekiah the king of Judah had _⌊provided_⌋* one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the princes _⌊provided_⌋* one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. And many priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ And the whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, all the assembly who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing such as this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.

¹ And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found in the cities of Judah went out and shattered the stone pillars, cut down the Asherahs, and destroyed the high places and the altars from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh _⌊to the very last one_⌋.* Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property and to their cities. ² And Hezekiah appointed working groups of the priests and the Levites, each according to their divisions, _⌊according to the service for priests and Levites_⌋,* for burnt offerings, for peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camps of Yahweh. ³ And the gift of the king was out of his own possessions for the burnt offerings—the burnt offerings for the morning and the evening and for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and appointed feasts, as is written in the law of Yahweh. ⁴ Then he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give a gift for the priests and the Levites, so that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. ⁵ And the word spread. The Israelites gave abundantly from the firstfruits of grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all kinds of grains from the field. And they brought tithes of everything in abundance. ⁶ Then the people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tithe of cattle and sheep and a tithe of consecrated objects to Yahweh their God. And they gave heaps upon heaps. ⁷ In the third month the heaps began to pile up, and in the seventh month they ceased. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel. ⁹ And Hezekiah questioned* the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰ And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, "Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now see this abundant remainder!" ¹¹ And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Yahweh, and they were prepared. ¹² Then they brought the offerings and tithes and holy objects faithfully. And over them as leader was Conaniah the Levite. And Shimei his brother was second in rank. ¹³ And Jehiel, Azaziah, Nathan, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were chief officers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei, his brother, by appointment of King Hezekiah. And Azaraiah was leader of the house of God. ¹⁴ Now Kore the son of Imlah, the Levite, the gatekeeper of the east gate was over the freewill offerings of God, to give offerings to Yahweh and the most holy things. ¹⁵ And at his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests and _⌊entrusted_⌋* to give to their brothers by working groups, according to the eldest to the youngest, ¹⁶ besides their enrollment by genealogy, to males from three years old and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, _⌊as each day required_⌋* for their service in their posts according to their working groups. ¹⁷ And the enrollment of the priests was according to the house of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, according to their posts by their working groups. ¹⁸ And they were enrolled with all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters for the whole assembly because of their faithfulness. And they sanctified themselves in holiness. ¹⁹ And for the descendants* of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of the pasturelands of their cities, _⌊in each and every one of their cities_⌋* were men who were designated by name to give shares to every male among the priests and to everyone enrolled among the Levites. ²⁰ And Hezekiah did according to this throughout all Judah. And he did what is good and what is right and what is faithful before Yahweh his God. ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God or with respect to the law and the commandment to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

¹ After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came, and he came against Judah. And he encamped against the fortified cities and planned to break them down for himself. ² When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that his face was set for battle against Jerusalem, ³ he took counsel with his commanders and his mighty warriors to block off the waters of the springs that came from outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴ Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?" 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. ⁶ And he appointed commanders for battle over the people and gathered them to himself into the public square of the gate of the city. And he spoke to their hearts, saying, ⁷ "Be strong! Be courageous! Do not fear and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and before all the crowd that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. ⁸ With him is the arm of flesh, and with us is Yahweh our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence with the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. ⁹ After this Sennacherib the king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (now he and all his armies with him were against Lachish) to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all of Judah that was in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ "Thus says Sennacherib the king of Assyria: 'On what are you relying that you are dwelling in siege works in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah urging you to give you up to die by starvation and thirst, saying, "Yahweh our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria"? ¹² Has not Hezekiah himself removed his high places and his altars and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, "You must bow down before one altar and upon it you must make offerings"? ¹³ Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors,* to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of all the lands at all able to save their land from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations whom my ancestors* utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God will be able to save you from my hand? ¹⁵ So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors.* Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'" ¹⁶ And still more his servants said against Yahweh God and against Hezekiah his servant. ¹⁷ And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand." ¹⁸ Then they called with a great voice in Judean to the people of Jerusalem who were upon the wall to frighten them and terrify them, so that they could take the city captive. ¹⁹ And they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as about the gods of the peoples of the earth, the works of the hands of humankind. ²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed concerning this. And they cried to the heavens. ²¹ Then Yahweh sent an angel, and he destroyed every mighty warrior of strength, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shamed face to his land and went into the house of his god. And some of the offspring of his loins fell upon him there with the sword. ²² So Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and from the all their enemies, and gave them rest all around. ²³ And many brought tribute to Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations thereafter. ²⁴ In those days Hezekiah fell ill unto death, and he prayed to Yahweh. And he answered him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did not reciprocate according to the benefit placed upon him, because his heart became proud. So wrath was upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. ²⁷ And Hezekiah had very much wealth and honor, and he made storehouses for himself for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, small shields, and all sorts of desirable objects; ²⁸ and storage buildings for the yield of grain, new wine, and olive oil; and animal stalls for all kinds of animals, and animals and herds for animal stalls. ²⁹ And he made cities for himself, and livestock of sheep and abundant cattle, for God had given to him very abundant possessions. ³⁰ And this same Hezekiah blocked off the flow of the waters of the upper Gihon, and directed them down the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ³¹ And thus in the matter of the envoys of the commanders of Babylon who had been sent to him to seek the sign that had happened in the land, God forsook him, to test him and to know all that was in his heart. ³² Now the remainder of the words of Hezekiah and his loyal love, behold, they are written in the visions of Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ And Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the upper part of the burial sites of the descendants* of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

¹⁹ Formerly you spoke in a vision to your faithful ones, and said, "I have bestowed help on a mighty man; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

¹ The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

¹ In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe was filling the temple.

¹ This happened in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went* up to Jerusalem for warfare against it,* but he was not able to fight against it.*

¹ The oracle of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

² A hard revelation is told to me;
the treacherous deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media!
I put an end to all of her sighing.

⁹ _⌊Get yourself_⌋* up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift it up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"

¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
"You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you with visions of their _⌊mind_⌋,* They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh.

¹ The word of Yahweh that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

¹ The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, two years _⌊before_⌋* the earthquake.

¹ The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:

¹ The oracle concerning Nineveh— the scroll of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

² Then Yahweh answered me and said, "Write the vision and make it plain on the tablet so that _⌊it might be read quickly_⌋.*

⁹ And as* they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them saying, "Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead."

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate.

¹⁹ "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

¹ It is necessary to boast; it is not profitable, but I will proceed to visions and revelations of the Lord.

²¹ for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

³¹ and just as he did in the wilderness* when* you saw that* Yahweh your God carried you, just as someone* carries his son, all along the way that you traveled until _⌊you reached_⌋* this place.'

⁷ For what great nation has for it a god near to it as Yahweh our God, whenever* we call upon him? ⁸ And what other great nation has for it* just rules and regulations just like* _⌊this whole_⌋* law that I am setting _⌊before_⌋* you _⌊today_⌋?*

²⁶ I call* to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; _⌊you will not live long on it_⌋,* but you will be completely destroyed.

²² "And also at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to anger. ²³ And when Yahweh sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice. ²⁴ You have been rebellious toward Yahweh _⌊from the day I have known you_⌋.*

¹⁹ I invoke as a witness against you _⌊today_⌋* the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set _⌊before you_⌋,* blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,*

¹ "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

⁴ He summons the heavens above and the earth that he might judge his people:

¹ Let me sing for my beloved a song of my love concerning his vineyard: _⌊My beloved had a vineyard_⌋* on _⌊a fertile hill_⌋.* ² And he dug it and cleared it of stones, and he planted it with choice vines,* and he built a watchtower in the middle of it, and he even hewed out a wine vat in it, and he waited for it to yield grapes— but it yielded wild grapes.

¹ "Oh rebellious children!" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh,
"to make a plan, but* not from me, and pour out a libation, but* not from my Spirit, _⌊so as to add_⌋* sin to sin.

⁹ For it is a people of rebellion, deceitful children, children who are not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh,

³ "Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the belly, who have been carried from the womb: ⁴ Even* to your old age I am he; even* to your advanced age I myself will support you. I myself have made you, and I myself will carry you, and I myself will support you, and I will save you.

⁹ In all their distress, _⌊there was no distress_⌋,* and the messenger of his _⌊presence_⌋* saved them, in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them, and he lifted them up, and he supported them all the days of old. ¹⁰ But* they _⌊were the ones who_⌋* rebelled, and they grieved _⌊his Holy Spirit_⌋,* so* he _⌊became an enemy to them_⌋;* he himself fought against them.

² I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,

⁵ Thus says Yahweh:
"What injustice did your ancestors* find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain? ⁶ And they did not say, 'Where is Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert,* in a land of desert plains and gorges,* in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land _⌊that no one passes through_⌋,* and no human lives there?' ⁷ And I brought you to the land of the orchard, to eat its fruit, and its good things.* But you entered and defiled my land, and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.* ⁸ The priests did not say, 'Where is Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have _⌊rebelled against me_⌋,* and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after things which do not profit. ⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* I again bring a lawsuit against you," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and with _⌊your children_⌋* I bring a lawsuit. ¹⁰ For go over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, and send to Kedar and consider very closely, and see if there has been a thing like this: ¹¹ Has a nation exchanged gods? And they are not gods! But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit. ¹² Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder; be utterly desolate," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹³ "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the source* of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁹ Hear, O earth, look, I am about to bring disaster to this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened attentively to my words, and my teaching, they have rejected it also.

¹⁵ Listen, and pay attention, you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.

²⁹ O land, land, land, hear the word of Yahweh.

⁹ With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will bring them; I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path. They will not stumble in it, for I have become to Israel a father, and Ephraim, he is my firstborn."

⁶ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live! ⁷ Grow up;* I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and _⌊reached full womanhood_⌋.* Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare. ⁸ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, _⌊your time of lovemaking had come_⌋,* and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into* a covenant with you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'and _⌊you became mine_⌋.* ⁹ And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. ¹¹ And I adorned you with ornaments,* and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. ¹² And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a _⌊beautiful crown_⌋* on your head. ¹³ And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; _⌊you were fit to be a queen_⌋.* ¹⁴ And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁵ And you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "On the day of my choosing Israel _⌊I swore_⌋* to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and _⌊I swore_⌋* to them, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I am Yahweh your God.' ⁶ On that day _⌊I swore_⌋* to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. ⁷ Then I said to them, 'Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.' ⁸ But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one _⌊did not throw away_⌋* the detestable things of their eyes; and _⌊they did not abandon_⌋* the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ "But* I acted for the sake of my name _⌊to keep it from being profaned_⌋* before the eyes of the nations _⌊among whom they lived_⌋,* where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, ¹¹ and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. ¹² And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them _⌊so they would know_⌋* that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them. ¹³ "But* in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, ¹⁴ and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations _⌊before whom I brought them out_⌋.* ¹⁵ And also _⌊I myself swore_⌋* to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands— ¹⁶ because they despised my judgments, and _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols. ¹⁷ But my eye took pity on them by not destroying them, and _⌊I did not completely destroy them_⌋* in the desert. ¹⁸ "And I said to their children in the desert, 'You must not go in the statutes of your parents;* you must not keep their regulations, and you must not make yourself unclean with their idols. ¹⁹ I, Yahweh, am your God, so go in my statutes and keep my regulations and do them. ²⁰ And treat my Sabbaths as holy, and they will be a sign between me and between you _⌊that you may know_⌋* that I, Yahweh, am your God.' ²¹ But the children rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and _⌊they did not observe my regulations_⌋,* which if a person does them, then he will live by them. My Sabbaths they desecrated, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to finish my anger against them in the desert. ²² But I withheld my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name not to be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I had brought them out before their eyes. ²³ What is more, _⌊I swore_⌋* to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands, ²⁴ because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors.* ²⁵ And in turn I gave to them rules that were not good and regulations _⌊by which they will not live_⌋.* ²⁶ And I defiled them through their gifts in sacrificing all of the first offspring of the womb, in order that* I will cause them to be stunned, so that they will know that I am Yahweh. ²⁷ "Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man,* and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Again in this your ancestors blasphemed me _⌊at* their display of infidelity toward me_⌋." '* ²⁸ And I brought them to the land that _⌊I swore_⌋* to give* to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there. ²⁹ And I said to them, 'What is the high place* to which you are going?' And _⌊it is called_⌋* Bamah until this day. ³⁰ Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "In the way of your ancestors* will you defile yourself, and after their vile idols will you prostitute yourselves? ³¹ And _⌊when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children_⌋* through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until _⌊today_⌋,* and will I let myself* be consulted by you, house of Israel?" ' _⌊As I live_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself* be consulted by you! ³² And _⌊what you are planning_⌋,* surely it will not be—that you are saying, 'Let us be like the nations, like the clans* of the lands, _⌊serving wood and stone_⌋!'*

⁴ Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh; thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the river channels and to the valleys and to the ruins that are desolate and to the cities that are abandoned and that have become as plunder and as scorn for the remainder* of the nations that are from all around.

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

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

⁸ But I, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of Yahweh, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin.

¹ Hear now what Yahweh says: "Arise! Plead your case with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice." ² Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends.

⁶ "A son honors his father, and a slave his master;* but if I am a father, where is my honor, and if I am a master,* where is my reverence?" says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, _⌊who despise_⌋* my name. "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?'

²⁰ For we are not able to refrain from speaking about the things that we have seen and heard."

¹ Therefore, what is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the use of circumcision? ² Much in every way. For first, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, ⁵ to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed _⌊forever_⌋*! Amen.

²⁸ For _⌊they are a nation void of sense_⌋,* and there is not any understanding in them. ²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern _⌊for themselves their end_⌋.*

⁸ You pay attention, O brutes among the people. And you fools, when you will show insight?

⁶ Go to the ant, lazy! Consider its ways and be wise.

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.

¹¹ _⌊When its branches are dry_⌋,* they are broken; women are coming and setting light to it.
For it is not a people of understanding;
therefore his maker will not have compassion on him, and his creator will not show him favor.

¹⁸ They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes are besmeared _⌊so that they cannot see_⌋,* their _⌊minds_⌋* _⌊so that they have no insight_⌋.*

²² "For my people are foolish, they have not known me. They are foolish children, and they do not have insight. They are skillful at doing evil, and they do not know how to do good."

⁷ Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time, and the turtledove, and the swallow, and the song bird, they observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the ordinance* of Yahweh.

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.

⁸ _⌊At the same time_⌋* they are stupid and foolish, in the instruction of idols, it is wood.

¹⁴ _⌊Everyone_⌋* is stupid, _⌊without knowledge_⌋,* every goldsmith is ashamed by his divine image, for his cast image is an illusion, and there is no breath in them.

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

¹⁹ When* anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it,* the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown on the side of the path.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit _⌊to recognize God_⌋*, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things that are not proper,

⁵ For when* they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God,

¹³ Now the men of Sodom _⌊were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh_⌋.*

¹⁴ Behold, you stand in the place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more _⌊Yahweh's fierce anger_⌋* against Israel.

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.

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

¹⁹ Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

¹⁰ Then the _⌊Israelites_⌋* cried out to Yahweh, saying, "We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals."

³ The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.

⁸ and not be like their ancestors,* a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not make ready its heart, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and vexed him in the wasteland!

¹⁸ because our shield belongs to Yahweh,* and our king to the Holy One of Israel.*

²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan and the legal dispute of the widow does not come before them.

⁸ For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen because their speech and their deeds are against Yahweh, defying the eyes of his glory.

¹⁹ those who say, "Let him make haste; let him hurry his work so that we may see it and let it draw near and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come so that we may know it!"

²⁴ Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become like the stench, and their blossom will go up like the dust. For they have rejected the instruction of Yahweh of hosts, and they have treated the word of the holy one of Israel with contempt.

⁶ I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them* a trampling place, like the clay of the streets.

⁶ Inhabitant of Zion, shout out and sing for joy, for the holy one of Israel is great in your midst."

²⁰ You will not be united with them in burial because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people.
The descendants* of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity!

¹⁹ And the meek _⌊have joy after joy_⌋* in Yahweh, and the needy of the people shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel.

¹¹ turn aside from the way, turn aside from the path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face." ¹² Therefore the holy one of Israel says this:
"Because you are rejecting this word and you trust in oppression and _⌊cunning_⌋* and you rely on it,

¹⁵ For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this:
"In returning and rest you shall be saved; your strength shall be in quietness and in trust."
But* you were not willing,

²³ Whom have you taunted and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised up your voice and lifted your eyes upward?
To the holy one of Israel!

¹⁴ You must not fear, O worm of Jacob; people of Israel, I myself, I will help you," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel.

¹⁶ You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you yourself shall rejoice in Yahweh; you shall boast in the holy one of Israel.

²⁰ so that they may see and know, and take to heart and understand together that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the holy one of Israel has created it."

³ "But* you, come near here, you children of a soothsayer, offspring of an adulterer and she who commits fornication. ⁴ At whom do you make fun? At whom do you _⌊open_⌋* your mouth and _⌊stick out_⌋* your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deception,

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

⁵ Thus says Yahweh:
"What injustice did your ancestors* find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

¹³ "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the source* of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁷ Did you not do this to yourself, by forsaking Yahweh, your God, at the time of your leading in the way?

¹⁹ Your wickedness will chastise you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Therefore know and see that it is evil and bitter, your forsaking of Yahweh, your God, and fear of me is not in you," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

³¹ O generation, you see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a desert* to Israel? Or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We roam about freely, we will not come again to you'?

³³ How well you do on your way to seek love! _⌊Therefore_⌋* even to the wicked woman you can teach your ways.

¹⁹ Are they provoking me to anger? " _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "Is it not themselves they hurt, for the sake of the shame of their faces?"

²⁶ Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors.*

¹¹ Then you shall say to them, '_⌊Because_⌋* your ancestors* have forsaken me,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and they have gone after other gods, and they have served them, and they have bowed down in worship to them, and they have forsaken me, and they have not kept my laws. ¹² And _⌊you have behaved badly_⌋* more than your ancestors,* and look, you are going each one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, without listening to me.

²⁹ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp all around her, there must not be for her an escape. Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, so do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God, from Yahweh of hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel."

³³ To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings!

⁷ But when he* saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

²⁸ Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

³³ Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How will you escape from the condemnation to hell?

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

⁷ because the mindset of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not able to do so,

²² Or are we attempting to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?*

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ, on behalf of his body which is the church,

⁵ because her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

²² And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh.

³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors* did not keep your law* and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

¹³ And the people did not turn to the one who struck it,* and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts.

²¹ Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they were against Judah. In all of this his anger has not turned away, and still his hand is stretched out.

⁶ Turn back to the one against whom the sons of Israel have made deep rebellion.

²⁴ And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who live in it, their iniquity will be taken away.

³⁰ "For _⌊in vain_⌋* I have struck your children. They accepted no discipline. Your sword devoured your prophets, like a ravening* lion.

³ O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty? You have struck them, but they felt no pain, you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, they have refused to turn back.

⁵ Let me go to the great, and let me speak with them, for they know the way of Yahweh, the law* of their God." However, they together have broken the yoke, they have torn to pieces the bonds.

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

²⁸ All of them are stubborn rebels, going about talking slander. They are bronze and iron, they are all behaving corruptly. ²⁹ The bellows* are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. _⌊In vain_⌋* _⌊he keeps on refining_⌋,* but the wicked are not torn apart. ³⁰ _⌊They are called_⌋* rejected silver, For Yahweh has rejected them."

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.

¹³ In your uncleanness is obscene conduct, because I cleansed you, but you were not clean from your uncleanness; you will not be clean again until _⌊I fully vent my rage_⌋* on you.

⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you. ⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets. ¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

¹ Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one! The oppressing city! ² She listens to no voice; she does not accept correction. In Yahweh she does not trust; to her God she does not draw near. ³ Her officials in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing until the morning. ⁴ Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery; her priests have defiled that which is holy; they do violence to the law.

⁵ And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons?
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, or give up when you are corrected by him. ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, and punishes every son whom he accepts."* ⁷ Endure it for discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, in which all legitimate sons* have become participants, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

⁸ And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted to it to burn up people with fire. ⁹ And people were burned up by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory. ¹⁰ And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

²⁸ "If there is a famine in the land; if there is disease, blight, mildew, locust, and caterpillar; if it happens that his enemy lays siege to him in the land and his gates; any kind of plague, any kind of disease, ²⁹ then any prayer, any plea that is made by any person and by all your people Israel, each one who knows his own affliction and his own anguish and who spreads out his hands to this house,

⁷ So* Satan* went out from _⌊Yahweh's presence_⌋,* and he inflicted Job with loathsome skin sores from the sole of his foot up to the crown of his head. ⁸ _⌊So_⌋* he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.

¹⁸ for he himself* wounds, but* he binds up; he strikes, but* his hands heal.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin. ⁴ For my iniquities have passed over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. ⁵ My wounds start to stink; they rot because of my foolishness.

² In the day I have trouble, I seek* the Lord. At night my hand stretches out _⌊continually_⌋;* my soul refuses to be comforted.

¹⁴ And they have treated the wound of my people lightly, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

²¹ "Because of the wound of the daughter of my people I am broken down, I mourn, horror has seized me. ²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?

¹² For thus says Yahweh,
'Your injury is incurable, your wound is overcome by sickness.

⁶ Look, I am going to bring healing and health to it, and I will heal them, and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and reliability.

¹² But I am like a maggot to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah. ¹³ And when Ephraim saw his illness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, he sent to the great king.* But he was unable to cure you and heal your wound.

¹⁹ There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you will clap their hands for joy concerning you, _⌊For who has not suffered at the hands of your endless cruelty_⌋?*

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_⌋.*

¹² And when he* heard it,* he said, "Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those _⌊who are sick_⌋.*

³⁴ And he came up and* bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine, and he put him on his own animal and* brought him to an inn and took care of him.

²⁰ And a certain poor man _⌊named_⌋* Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, ²¹ and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and* licked his sores.

³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths.

³³ A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed _⌊for the rest of your lives_⌋.*

⁴³ The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower.

⁴⁸ then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place* a yoke of iron on your neck _⌊until he has destroyed you_⌋.* ⁴⁹ Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, _⌊a nation whose language you will not understand_⌋,* ⁵⁰ _⌊a grim-faced nation_⌋* _⌊who does not show respect_⌋* to the old and the young and does not show pity. ⁵¹ And it* shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground _⌊until you are destroyed_⌋,* and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, _⌊calves of your herds_⌋,* and _⌊lambs of_⌋* your flock _⌊until it has destroyed you_⌋.* ⁵² And it shall besiege you in all your towns _⌊until your high and fortified walls fall_⌋,* which you are trusting in* _⌊throughout your land_⌋;* and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

⁵ Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram* who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack.

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, ¹⁷ since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives. ¹⁸ And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹ For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²⁰ Then Tiglath-Pileser* the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, _⌊instead of helping him_⌋,* ²¹ for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.

³⁴ a fruitful land into a salty place, because of the evil of its inhabitants.

³⁹ When they become few and they are bent down from the oppression of calamity and grief,

⁵ And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation. I will break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling. ⁶ And I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned and hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers* and thornbushes.* And concerning the clouds, I will command _⌊them not to send_⌋* rain down upon it.

⁹ Yahweh of hosts said in my ears:
_⌊Surely_⌋* many houses shall become a desolation, large and beautiful ones without inhabitant.

¹⁷ And then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and _⌊fatlings, kids* will eat among the sites of ruins._⌋*

¹¹ Then I said, "Until when, Lord?"
And he said,
"Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is ruined and a waste,

⁵ For every boot _⌊that marches and shakes the earth_⌋* and garment rolled in blood _⌊will_⌋* be for burning—fire fuel.

¹⁰ The city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut _⌊so that no one can enter_⌋;* ¹¹ there is an outcry over the wine in the streets. All joy turns into _⌊darkness_⌋;* the joy of the earth disappears. ¹² Desolation is left in the city; the gate is crushed into a state of ruin.

⁹ And its streams shall be changed to pitch and its soil to sulfur, and its land shall become like burning pitch.

¹⁵ The young lions have roared against him, they have _⌊raised_⌋* their voices.* And they have made his land as horror; his cities are destroyed, _⌊without_⌋* an inhabitant.

⁸ Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn away from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, a land that is not inhabited."

² Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses, to foreigners.

¹² and I will make the Nile streams dry land, and I will sell the land into the hand of bad people, and I will lay waste the land and its fullness by the hand of strangers.
I, Yahweh, I have spoken."

⁹ Foreigners devour* his strength, and he does not know it; _⌊mold_⌋* is also sprinkled upon him, and he does not know it.

⁷ Because they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. The standing grain does not have heads;* it will not yield flour. And if it would yield, strangers would devour it.

¹⁸ "He builds his house like the moth, and like a booth that a watchman has made.

¹⁴ so that I may tell of all your praises. In the gates of the daughter of Zion let me rejoice in your salvation.

⁴ when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

⁸ And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to the neck. He will reach, and _⌊he will spread his wings out over your entire land_⌋,* God with us."

³² _⌊This day_⌋* _⌊taking a stand_⌋* at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter* of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

²² this is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:
She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes her head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.

¹¹ Look! Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion, "Look, your salvation is coming! Look, his reward is with him, and his reward before him.

¹⁷ Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹ How, _⌊in his anger_⌋,* the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud! He has thrown down from heavens to earth the splendor of Israel, and he has not remembered his footstool in the day of _⌊his anger_⌋.*

⁶ He has broken down _⌊his dwelling_⌋* place like the garden; he has ruined his appointed feasts; Yahweh has made them forget in Zion _⌊festival_⌋* and Sabbath, and he has despised in his anger king and priest.

¹⁰ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for look, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

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!

⁴³ For days will come upon you and your enemies will put up an embankment* against you, and will surround you and press you hard from all directions. ⁴⁴ And they will raze you to the ground, you and your children within you, and will not leave a stone upon a stone within you, _⌊because_⌋* you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

¹⁵ "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion! Behold, your king is coming, seated on the foal of a donkey!"*

²⁶ And Yahweh said, "If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, in the midst of the city, then I will forgive the whole place for their sake."

³² And he said, "Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. What if* ten are found there?" And he answered, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."

²⁴ Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh.

²³ 'All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, _⌊none of its land will be sown_⌋,* and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.'

¹⁸ I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all of the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and all of the mouths that have not kissed him."

¹³ And _⌊even if only a tenth part remain_⌋,* _⌊again she will be destroyed_⌋* like a terebinth or like an oak, which although felled, a tree stump remains in them. The seed of holiness will be her tree stump."

²⁰ And this shall happen: on that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors* of the house of Jacob will not continue to lean on the one who struck it but will lean on Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, in truth. ²¹ A remnant will return— the remnant of Jacob—to the mighty God. ²² For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return. Annihilation is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

⁶ And gleanings will be left over in it, as _⌊when an olive tree is beaten_⌋,*
two or three ripe olive berries in the top of a branch, four or five on its fruitful branches,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, the God of Israel.

¹³ For it shall be like this in the midst of the earth, among the nations, like the beating of an olive tree, like gleanings when a grape harvest is at an end.

⁴ Maybe Yahweh your God heard the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God, and he will rebuke the words that Yahweh your God hears. And you must lift up a prayer for the benefit of the remnant that is found.'"

³¹ And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall _⌊grow_⌋* roots* downwards and make fruit upwards. ³² For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem and survivors* from mountain Zion.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.'

²² The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease; his compassions do not come to an end.

⁶ The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom; it was overthrown in a moment and no hands were laid on her.

⁸ But* I will spare some, _⌊so there will be_⌋* for you fugitives from the sword among the nations _⌊when you are scattered_⌋* in the countries.

²² But* look! A remnant will be left over in it, sons and daughters _⌊who will be brought out_⌋.* Look! They are coming out to you, and you will see their way, and with their deeds you will be consoled with respect to* the evil that I brought over Jerusalem, all of it that I brought over* it.

³² And it will happen—everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be rescued, because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be _⌊those who escape_⌋,* as Yahweh said, and among the survivors whom Yahweh is calling.

¹¹ "I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

² O Yahweh, I have heard the report of you; O Yahweh, I stand in awe of your works. In the midst of the years, revive it! In the midst of the years, make it known! In wrath, may you remember to show compassion.

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."

⁸ _⌊And then_⌋* in all the land," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "_⌊two thirds_⌋* will be cut off and perish, and one third will be left alive* in it. ⁹ And I will bring the remaining third into the fire, and I will refine them like one refines silver, and I will test them like one tests gold. They* will call my name, and I will answer them.* I will say, 'They* are my people,' and they* will say, 'Yahweh is my God.'"

¹⁴ because narrow* is the gate and constricted is the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!

²⁹ But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be _⌊just the same_⌋* on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
"Even if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved,

²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold,
"If the Lord of hosts had not left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah."*

⁴ But what does the divine response say to him? "I have left for myself seven thousand people* who have not bent the knee to Baal."* ⁵ So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant _⌊selected by grace_⌋*. ⁶ But if by grace, it is no longer by works, for otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁶ and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed them as an example for those who are going to be ungodly,

³² For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the terraces of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; _⌊their clusters are bitter_⌋.*

¹⁹ And he* said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand. ²⁰ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then _⌊this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another_⌋.* ²¹ Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him,' and Yahweh said to him, 'How?' ²² He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he* said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.' ²³ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you."

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.

²⁰ for teaching and for testimony?" _⌊surely they who speak like this have no dawn_⌋.*

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

²⁶ Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to the side, those who live in the desert,* for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart."

¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,* and they make strong the hands of evildoers, so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."

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.

⁴⁹ Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and _⌊prosperous ease_⌋* was to her and to her daughters, and _⌊she did not sustain the needy and the poor_⌋.*

⁸ A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy?

⁷ "Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor and _⌊the Arameans_⌋* from Kir?

⁸ But I, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of Yahweh, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin. ⁹ Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that is right, 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.

⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

²² Then Samuel said,
"Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in _⌊obeying_⌋* Yahweh? Look! _⌊To obey_⌋* is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams.

⁸ It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually.

¹⁶ For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. With a burnt offering you are not pleased.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it in divisiveness!

³ The one who slaughters a bull strikes a man; the one who slaughters a lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck of a dog. The one who offers an offering, the blood of swine; the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol. Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways, and their soul delights in their abhorrence.

²⁰ What is this to me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, and the precious spice reed from a distant land. Your burnt offerings are not _⌊acceptable_⌋,* your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.

²¹ "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies.

⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

¹⁰ "Who also among you will shut the temple doors so that you will not kindle fire in vain on my altar? I take no pleasure in you," says Yahweh of hosts, "and _⌊I will not accept_⌋* an offering from your hand.

¹³ But go and* learn what it means, "I want mercy and not sacrifice."* For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

¹⁷ Three times in the year all your men will appear before the Lord Yahweh.

²³ Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord, Yahweh, the God of Israel,

¹⁶ Three times in the year all of your males shall appear _⌊before _⌋* Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear _⌊before Yahweh_⌋* empty-handed.

⁶ A sacrifice and offering you do not desire. _⌊My ears you have opened_⌋.* Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded.

¹ * Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

¹ "Call with the throat; you must not keep back! lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare* to my people their rebellion, and to the house of Jacob their sins. ² Yet* they seek me day by day, and they desire the knowledge of my ways like a nation that _⌊practiced_⌋* righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of its God; they ask me for _⌊righteous judgments_⌋,* they desire the closeness of God.

⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

⁵ And they do all their deeds in order to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries broad and make their* tassels long.

¹⁶ It will be for you on the first day a holy assembly* and on the seventh day a holy assembly;* no work will be done on them; only what is eaten by every person, it alone will be prepared for you.

¹ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and say to them, 'The festivals of Yahweh that you shall proclaim are holy assemblies; these are my appointed times. ³ " 'For six days work is to be done, and on the seventh day shall be _⌊a Sabbath of complete rest_⌋,* a holy assembly; you shall not do any work; it shall be a Sabbath for Yahweh in all your dwellings. ⁴ " 'These are Yahweh's appointed times, holy assemblies, which you shall proclaim at* their appointed time. ⁵ In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month at the evening is Yahweh's Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of this month is Yahweh's Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷ On the first day there shall be a holy assembly for you; you shall not do _⌊any regular work_⌋.* ⁸ And you shall present an offering for Yahweh made by fire for seven days; on the seventh day there shall be a holy assembly; you shall not do _⌊any regular work_⌋.'"* ⁹ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and say to them, 'When you come to the land that I am about to give to you and you reap its harvest, then* you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruit of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ And he shall wave the sheaf _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh for your acceptance; the priest shall wave it _⌊on the day after_⌋* the Sabbath. ¹² And on the day of your waving the sheaf you shall _⌊offer_⌋* a _⌊yearling_⌋* male lamb without defect as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹³ And its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah* of finely milled flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire for Yahweh, an appeasing fragrance; and its libation shall be a fourth of a hin* of wine. ¹⁴ And you shall not eat bread or* roasted grain or* ripe grain until _⌊this very same day_⌋,* until you present your God's offering. This must be _⌊a lasting statute_⌋* for your generations in all your dwellings. ¹⁵ " 'And you shall count for yourselves _⌊from the day after_⌋* the Sabbath, from the day of your bringing the wave offering's sheaf—there shall be seven full weeks. ¹⁶ Until _⌊the day after_⌋* the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; then* you shall present a new grain offering for Yahweh. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread _⌊made with_⌋* two-tenths of an ephah* of finely milled flour; they must be baked with leaven—the firstfruits _⌊belonging to_⌋* Yahweh. ¹⁸ And, in addition to the bread, you shall present seven _⌊yearling_⌋* male lambs without defects and one _⌊young bull_⌋* and two rams—they shall be a burnt offering for Yahweh with* their grain offering and their libations, an offering made by fire, an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. ¹⁹ And you shall _⌊offer_⌋* one he-goat as a sin offering and two _⌊yearling_⌋* male lambs as a sacrifice of fellowship offerings. ²⁰ And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh; in addition to the two male lambs, they shall be holy for Yahweh for the priest. ²¹ And _⌊you shall make a proclamation_⌋* on _⌊this very same day_⌋;* it shall be a holy assembly for you; you shall not do _⌊any regular work_⌋;* this is a _⌊lasting statute_⌋* in all your dwellings throughout* your generations. ²² And when you* reap the harvest of your* land, you* must not finish the edge of your* field at your reaping, and you* must not glean the remnants of your* harvest—you* shall leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I am Yahweh your* God.'" ²³ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, _⌊you must have_⌋* a rest period, a remembrance of the trumpet blast, a holy assembly. ²⁵ You must not do _⌊any regular work_⌋,* and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yahweh.'" ²⁶ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ "Surely the Day of Atonement is on the tenth day of the seventh month; it shall be a holy assembly for you, and you shall deny yourselves, and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸ And you must not do _⌊any regular work_⌋* on _⌊this very same day_⌋,* because it is the Day of Atonement to make atonement for you _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God. ²⁹ If there is any person who does not deny himself on _⌊this very same day_⌋,* then* he shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ As for* any person who does any work on _⌊this very same day_⌋,* I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people. ³¹ You must not do any work; it is a _⌊lasting statute_⌋* throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It is _⌊a Sabbath of complete rest_⌋* for you, and you shall deny yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening—from evening to evening you must observe your extraordinary* Sabbath." ³³ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* saying, 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, this shall be the Feast of Booths for seven days for Yahweh. ³⁵ On the first day there shall be a holy assembly; you must not do any _⌊regular work_⌋.* ³⁶ For seven days you must present an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day it shall be a holy assembly for you, and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yahweh; it is a celebration; you must not do _⌊any regular work_⌋.* ³⁷ " 'These are Yahweh's festivals, which you must proclaim, holy assemblies to present an offering made by fire to Yahweh—burnt offering and grain offering, sacrifice and libations, _⌊each on its proper day_⌋*— ³⁸ _⌊besides_⌋* Yahweh's Sabbaths and _⌊besides_⌋* your gifts and _⌊besides_⌋* your vows and _⌊besides_⌋* all your freewill offerings that you give to Yahweh. ³⁹ " 'Surely on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, at your gathering the land's produce, you shall hold Yahweh's festival for seven days; on the first day there shall be a rest period and on the eighth day a rest period. ⁴⁰ And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees and branches* of a leafy tree and of a brook's poplar trees, and you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God for seven days. ⁴¹ And you must hold it as a festival for Yahweh for seven days in the year; it shall be a _⌊lasting statute_⌋* throughout your generations; in the seventh month you must hold it. ⁴² You must live in the booths for seven days; all the natives in Israel must live in the booths, ⁴³ so that your generations shall know that I made the _⌊Israelites_⌋* live in booths when I brought them from the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.'" ⁴⁴ Thus* Moses announced to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* Yahweh's appointed times.

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Command the _⌊Israelites_⌋* and say to them, '_⌊You will be careful to present_⌋* my offering, my food of my offerings made by fire, of a fragrance of appeasement to me, at its appointed time.' ³ You will say to them, 'This is the offering made by fire that you will offer to Yahweh: two male lambs without defect _⌊in their first year_⌋* as a continual burnt offering each day. ⁴ You will offer one male lamb in the morning, and the second male lamb you will offer _⌊at twilight_⌋,* ⁵ and a tenth of an ephah of finely milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a measure of beaten oil. ⁶ It is a continual burnt offering that was _⌊ordained_⌋* on Mount Sinai as a fragrance of appeasement, an offering made by fire for Yahweh. ⁷ The libation with it will be a fourth of a liquid measure for each male lamb; in the sanctuary you will pour out the libation of fermented drink for Yahweh. ⁸ And the second male lamb you will offer _⌊at twilight_⌋;* as the grain offering of the morning and as its libation you will offer it, an offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh. ⁹ " 'On the day of the Sabbath, two male lambs without defect _⌊in their first year_⌋,* and two-tenths of finely milled flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and its libation. ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering every Sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation. ¹¹ " 'And at the beginning of each of your months, you will present a burnt offering for Yahweh: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs without defect _⌊in their first year_⌋;* ¹² and three-tenths of finely milled flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of finely milled flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for the one ram; ¹³ and a tenth of finely milled flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each male lamb, for a burnt offering of a fragrance of appeasement, an offering of fire for Yahweh. ¹⁴ Their libations will be half a liquid measure of wine for the bull and a third of a liquid measure of wine for the ram and a fourth of a liquid measure of wine for the male lamb; this is the burnt offering for every month for the months of the year. ¹⁵ And one male goat as a sin offering for Yahweh; it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation. ¹⁶ " 'On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover for Yahweh. ¹⁷ On the fifteenth day of this month is a religious feast, unleavened bread must be eaten for seven days. ¹⁸ On the first day there will be a holy convocation; _⌊you will not do any regular work_⌋.* ¹⁹ You will present an offering by fire, a burnt offering for Yahweh: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs _⌊in their first year_⌋;* they will be for you without defect. ²⁰ For their grain offering, you will offer finely milled flour mixed with oil: three-tenths for the bull and two-tenths for the ram. ²¹ You will offer a tenth for each of the seven male lambs; ²² and a goat for one sin offering to make atonement for you. ²³ You will offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for the continual burnt offering. ²⁴ Like this you will offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh; it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation. ²⁵ On the seventh day you will have a holy convocation; _⌊you will not do any regular work_⌋.* ²⁶ " 'And on the day of firstfruits, when you are presenting a new offering for Yahweh during your Festival of Weeks, you will have a holy convocation; _⌊you will not do any regular work_⌋.* ²⁷ You will present a burnt offering for a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh: two bulls, one ram, seven male lambs _⌊in their first year_⌋;* ²⁸ and their grain offering will be finely milled flour mixed with oil: three-tenths for each bull, two-tenths for one ram, ²⁹ a tenth for each of the male lambs;

¹ "Observe the month of Abib, and you shall keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt by night. ² And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to Yahweh your God from among your flock and herd at the place that Yahweh will choose, to let his name dwell there. ³ You shall not eat _⌊with it_⌋* anything leavened; seven days you shall eat _⌊with it_⌋* unleavened bread of affliction, because in haste you went out from the land of Egypt, so that you will remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ⁴ And leaven shall not be seen with* you in any of your territory* for seven days, and none of the meat that you will slaughter on the evening on the first day shall remain overnight until morning. ⁵ You are not allowed to offer the Passover sacrifice in one of your _⌊towns_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you, ⁶ but only at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there; you shall offer the Passover sacrifice _⌊in the evening at sunset_⌋,* at the designated time* of your going out from Egypt. ⁷ And you shall cook, and you shall eat it at the place that Yahweh your God will choose; and you may turn in the morning and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be an assembly for Yahweh your God; you shall not do work. ⁹ "You shall count off seven weeks for you; _⌊from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain_⌋* you shall begin to count seven weeks. ¹⁰ And then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the measure of the freewill offering of your hand that you shall give just as Yahweh your God has blessed you. ¹¹ And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that is in your _⌊towns_⌋* and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there. ¹² And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so _⌊you shall diligently observe_⌋* these rules. ¹³ "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for yourselves* seven days _⌊at the gathering in of the produce_⌋* from your threshing floor and from your press; ¹⁴ and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that are in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ¹⁵ Seven days you shall celebrate your feast to Yahweh your God at the place Yahweh will choose, for Yahweh your God shall bless you in all of your produce* and in all of the work of your hand, and you shall surely be rejoicing.* ¹⁶ Three times in the year all of your males shall appear _⌊before _⌋* Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear _⌊before Yahweh_⌋* empty-handed. ¹⁷ Each person _⌊shall give as he is able_⌋,* that is, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you. ¹⁸ "You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your _⌊towns_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render for the people _⌊righteous judgments_⌋.* ¹⁹ You shall not subvert* justice; you shall not _⌊show partiality_⌋;* and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind the eyes of the wise and misrepresents the words of the righteous. ²⁰ _⌊Justice, only justice_⌋* you shall pursue, so that you may live, and you shall take possession of the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. ²¹ You shall not plant for yourselves* _⌊an Asherah pole_⌋* beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.* ²² And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that Yahweh your God hates.

³¹ and for every burnt offering offered to Yahweh, on Sabbaths, on new moon festivals, and at the appointed feasts, according to the customary number _⌊required of them_⌋,* regularly before Yahweh.

⁹ Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear _⌊falsely_⌋?* And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? ¹⁰ And then you come and you stand _⌊before_⌋* me in this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* and you say, 'we are safe _⌊to go on doing_⌋* all of these detestable things.'

³⁹ And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Let each one go serve his idols now and after, if you are not listening to me, but _⌊my holy name_⌋* you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

¹⁴ Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all of the inhabitants of the land in the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet* in Zion, sanctify a fast, call an assembly;

⁹ and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"*

⁴² "But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also.

¹⁷ But in giving this instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

³⁰ and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

¹⁵ Some even because of envy and strife preach Christ, but some also because of good will.

¹³ Then he said, "Hear, house of David! Is it too little for you to make men weary, that you should also make my God weary?

¹ Ah! Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!
Add year to year, let festivals recur.

²⁴ You have not bought me spice reed with money or* satisfied me with the fat of sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities.

⁸ For I, Yahweh, love justice, hate robbery and* injustice, and I will _⌊faithfully_⌋* give their reward, and I will _⌊make_⌋* an everlasting covenant _⌊with_⌋* them.

¹³ Look! I am going to press you down in your place just as a utility cart full of mature stalks of grain is pressed down.

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

¹⁷ You have wearied Yahweh with your words, but you ask, "With what have we wearied him?" You have done so _⌊when you say_⌋,* "Everyone who does evil is good in the _⌊sight_⌋* of Yahweh, and in them he delights," or "Where is the God of justice?"

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands to the heavens,

⁵⁴ It happened that when Solomon finished praying to Yahweh all of the prayer and this plea, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling down on his knees with his palms outstretched to heaven.

⁵ At the evening offering I got up from my mourning posture and, with my garment and robe torn, I fell down on my knees and I spread out my palms to Yahweh my God

⁸ for what is the hope of the godless when he cuts them off, when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry of distress when distress comes upon him?

²⁰ Terrors overtake him like the water; a storm wind carries him off in the night.

¹ For the music director, with stringed instruments. A maskil of David.*
Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my plea.

¹⁸ If I had considered evil in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

² Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless Yahweh.

²⁸ then they will call* me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me.

¹⁷ And I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him.

⁷ Is it not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring _⌊home_⌋* the poor, the homeless. When you see the naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your _⌊relatives_⌋.*

² Rather, your iniquities have been _⌊barriers_⌋* between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing. ³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness.

⁸ Look, you are relying for yourselves on _⌊deceitful words_⌋* without benefiting.

¹² Although they fast, I am not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I am not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I am about to destroy them."

¹⁷ And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man?* _⌊Was it too small a thing_⌋* for the house of Judah _⌊to do_⌋* the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and _⌊they provoked me to anger again_⌋,* and look! They are putting the branch to their nose. ¹⁸ And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them."

⁴ Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, when they have made their deeds evil.

⁹ Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that is right, 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."

¹³ 'Thus, just as I* called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts.

⁷ "But when you* pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard.

¹³ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you shut the kingdom of heaven before people! For you do not enter, nor permit those wanting to go in* to enter.*

²⁵ when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open the door* for us!' And he will answer and* say to you, 'I do not know where you are from!' ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!' ²⁷ And he will reply, saying to you, 'I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you _⌊evildoers_⌋!'* ²⁸ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!

⁸ Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and dispute.

¹³ "If you yourself* direct your heart and stretch out your hands to him— ¹⁴ if iniquity* is in your hand, put it far away, and you must not let wickedness reside in your tents—

⁶ I will wash my hands in innocence, and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.

²⁷ Turn aside from evil and do good and so abide forever.

¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there! You must not touch any unclean thing. Go out from the midst of it, keep clean, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.

⁶ Seek Yahweh _⌊while he lets himself be found_⌋;* call him _⌊while he is_⌋* near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of sin his thoughts. And let him return to Yahweh, that* he may take pity on him, and to our God, for he will _⌊forgive manifold_⌋.*

¹⁴ Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. _⌊How long_⌋* will your thoughts of mischief dwell in your inner part?

⁵ _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Turn back please, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your ancestors* from a long time back and until forever,

³⁰ "Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one* according to his ways," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. "Repent* and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. ³¹ Throw _⌊away from yourselves_⌋* all of your transgressions that you committed,* and make _⌊for yourselves_⌋* a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel?

¹⁵ Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

³ You must say to them: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, "and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts. ⁴ "Do not be like your ancestors,* to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear* and they did not pay attention* to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance!

¹⁶ And now why are you delaying? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name!'

⁹ Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; be attached to what is good,

¹ Therefore since we* have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.

²² that you take off, according to your former way of life, the old man, who is being destroyed according to deceitful desires, ²³ be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and put on the new man (in accordance with God), who is created in righteousness and holiness from the truth. ²⁵ Therefore, putting aside the lie, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor,* because we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin;* do not let the sun set on your anger, ²⁷ nor give place to the devil. ²⁸ The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. ²⁹ _⌊No rotten word must proceed_⌋* from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear,

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, ¹² training us in order that, denying impiety and worldly desires, we may live self-controlled and righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking forward to the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!

¹ Therefore, ridding yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

¹¹ And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁴ And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me,
"These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

³ Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan; provide justice to the afflicted and the poor. ⁴ Rescue the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

⁹ Open your mouth, judge righteousness, and defend the poor and needy.

³ Thus says Yahweh, "Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor. And you must not oppress the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place.

¹⁵ Do you reign as king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and he did justice and righteousness, then it was well with him? ¹⁶ He judged the legal cause of the needy and the poor, and then it was well. _⌊Is that not what it means to know me_⌋?*" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you and your sin remove* with righteousness and your iniquity with having mercy on the oppressed, _⌊in case there might be a prolongation of your prosperity_⌋.'"*

³ Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land who have fulfilled his law; seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the anger of Yahweh.

⁹ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge with trustworthy justice, and show* steadfast love and compassion _⌊to one another_⌋.* ¹⁰ You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart _⌊against one another_⌋.'*

¹⁶ These are the things that you must do: speak truth, each of you, with his neighbor; practice trustworthy judgment and peace in your gates.

⁷ So then take your stand, so that I may judge you before Yahweh with regard to all the deeds of justice* of Yahweh that he performed with both you and your ancestors.*

⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

¹ Listen to me in silence, coastlands, and let nations renew their strength. Let them approach, then let them speak; let us draw near together for judgment.

²¹ "Present your legal case," says Yahweh. "Bring your evidence," says the king of Jacob.

²⁴ You have not bought me spice reed with money or* satisfied me with the fat of sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities. ²⁵ I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins. ²⁶ Take me to court; let us enter into judgment together. You, _⌊make an account_⌋* so that you may be in the right.

²² I have wiped your transgressions out like a cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you!"

² Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends.

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love. ¹⁹ _⌊He will again have compassion_⌋* on us; he will trample our iniquities. And you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea.

² _⌊And as was his custom_⌋,* Paul went in to them and on three Sabbath days he discussed with them from the scriptures,

⁴ And he argued in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade* both Jews and Greeks.

²⁵ And while* he was discussing about righteousness and self control and the judgment that is to come, Felix became afraid and* replied, "Go away for the present, and when I* have an opportunity, I will summon you."

²⁰ Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance,

⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, ⁷ in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight,

¹⁵ "See, I am setting _⌊before you_⌋* _⌊today_⌋* life and prosperity and death and disaster; ¹⁶ what I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋* is to love Yahweh your God by going* in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the _⌊land where you are going_⌋.*

¹⁰ Tell the innocent* that it is good for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹ "Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters! And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat, and come, buy without money, wine and milk without price! ² Why do you weigh out money for what is not food, and your labor for _⌊what cannot satisfy_⌋?* Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul take pleasure in _⌊rich_⌋* food. ³ Extend your ear, and come to me! Listen so that* your soul may live, and I will _⌊make_⌋* an everlasting covenant with* you, the enduring proofs of _⌊the mercies shown to_⌋* David.

¹² Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
'Return, apostate* Israel,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'I will not cause my _⌊anger_⌋* to fall on you. For I am loyal,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'I will not be angry _⌊forever_⌋.* ¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh." ¹⁴ "Return, apostate* children," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "For _⌊I am your master_⌋,* and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,* and I will bring you to Zion.

¹⁸ Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves, 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like a calf that is not trained. Bring me back and let me return, for you are Yahweh my God. 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.' ²⁰ Is Ephraim my dear son, or the child of my delight? For _⌊as often as_⌋* I have earnestly spoken against him, I still remember him. _⌊Therefore_⌋* my bowels are turbulent for him, surely I will have compassion on him," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹ Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel, for you have stumbled because of your sin. ² Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept good, and we will offer the fruit* of our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses,* and we will say no more, "Our God," to the work of our hands because in you the fatherless child finds mercy. ⁴ I will heal their disloyalty;* I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them.*

²⁶ And you will eat abundantly and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt with you _⌊wondrously_⌋.* My people _⌊will never be ashamed_⌋.*

²⁸ "Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached* the first and* said, 'Son, go work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹ And he answered and* said, 'I do not want to!' But later he changed his mind and* went. ³⁰ And he approached the second* and* said the same thing. So he answered and* said, 'I will, sir,' and he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his* father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when* you saw it,* you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.

⁹ and being perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him,

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.

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?

²⁵ But if you continue to do wickedness, both you and your king will be swept away."

²⁹ Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he is not a human that he should regret."

¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

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

²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle.

⁵ And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all _⌊humankind_⌋* together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

¹⁴ then you shall take your pleasure in* Yahweh, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor,*
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

¹² and I will remit you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because I called, but* you did not answer; I spoke, but* you did not listen, but* you did the evil in my eyes, and you chose that in which I do not delight."

⁴ But they will sit, each under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.

² in the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before eternal ages,

¹ Because of this, it is all the more necessary that we pay attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels was binding and every transgression and act of disobedience received a just penalty, ³ how will we escape if we* neglect so great a salvation which had its beginning when it* was spoken through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard,

¹⁵ David reigned over all of Israel, and he* was administering justice and righteousness for all his people.

⁹ And he commanded them, saying, "Thus you must do in the fear of Yahweh in faithfulness and with a whole heart.

¹ Now the commanders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the remainder of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, the other nine's place was in the other cities.

⁴ There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, the holiest of the dwellings of the Most High.

¹ A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.*
Yahweh is great and very worthy of praise in the city of our God, in his _⌊holy mountain_⌋.*

⁸ As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish her forever. Selah

⁷ For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man* of Judah is the plantation of his delight. And he waited for justice,* but look! Bloodshed!* For righteousness,* but look! A cry of distress!*

² For they call themselves _⌊after the holy city_⌋,* and they lean on the God of Israel— Yahweh of hosts is his name.

³ "But* you, come near here, you children of a soothsayer, offspring of an adulterer and she who commits fornication. ⁴ At whom do you make fun? At whom do you _⌊open_⌋* your mouth and _⌊stick out_⌋* your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deception, ⁵ who burn with lust among the oaks, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? ⁶ Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; they, they are your lot; indeed, to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a food offering.
Shall I relent concerning these things? ⁷ You have set your bed upon a high and lofty mountain; indeed, you went up there to slaughter sacrifice. ⁸ And you have set your symbol behind the door and the doorpost; for you depart* from me, and you go up; you make your bed wide, and you _⌊make a deal with_⌋* them, you have loved their bed; you have seen their _⌊genitals_⌋.* ⁹ And you climbed down to the king with oil, and you made your perfumes numerous, and you sent your envoys _⌊far away_⌋,* and you _⌊sent down deep_⌋* to Sheol.

²⁰ "For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you were lying down as a prostitute. ²¹ Yet I planted you as a choice vine, all of it a seed of trustworthiness. How then have you altered before me into something that is degenerate, the foreign vine?

¹ A _⌊saying_⌋:* 'Look, if a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him _⌊and she becomes another man's wife_⌋,* will he return to her again?' Will not that land be greatly defiled? And you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, would you now return to me?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously, thus she became an objection of derision; all those who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away. ⁹ Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she did not remember her future, she has descended beyond understanding, there is no comforter for her. See, O Yahweh, my persecution! My enemy has been made great!

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Son of man,* make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, 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_⌋.* ⁵ _⌊No eye took pity on you_⌋* to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown _⌊into the open field_⌋* in their despising of you _⌊on the day you were born_⌋.* ⁶ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live! ⁷ Grow up;* I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and _⌊reached full womanhood_⌋.* Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare. ⁸ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, _⌊your time of lovemaking had come_⌋,* and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into* a covenant with you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'and _⌊you became mine_⌋.* ⁹ And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. ¹¹ And I adorned you with ornaments,* and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. ¹² And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a _⌊beautiful crown_⌋* on your head. ¹³ And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; _⌊you were fit to be a queen_⌋.* ¹⁴ And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵ 'And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, "Let it be his." 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. ²³ " 'And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁴ 'And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square. ²⁵ At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring. ²⁶ And you prostituted with the _⌊Egyptians_⌋,* your neighbors _⌊who were sexually aroused_⌋,* and you increased your fornication to provoke me. ²⁷ And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into* the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd _⌊conduct_⌋.* ²⁸ And you prostituted with the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* on account of _⌊your insatiable lust_⌋,* and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied. ²⁹ And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,* to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. ³⁰ How hot with fever was your heart!' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. '_⌊When you did_⌋* all of these actions _⌊of a headstrong female prostitute_⌋,* ³¹ _⌊when you built_⌋* your mound at the head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet* you were* not like a prostitute, as you were scorning your harlot's wages. ³² O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers. ³³ To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings! ³⁴ And it was the opposite with you from the other women in your whorings; _⌊no one solicited you as a prostitute_⌋.* _⌊You gave_⌋* a harlot's wages, and a harlot's wages were not given to you, and so it was just the opposite. ³⁵ " 'Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh. ³⁶ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers _⌊whom you were pleased about_⌋,* and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from _⌊everywhere_⌋,* and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness. 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. ³⁹ And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take _⌊your beautiful jewelry_⌋,* and they will leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones,* and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments _⌊before_⌋* many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot's wages you will not give* again. 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. ⁴³ _⌊Because_⌋* you did not remember* the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon your head,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'and did* you not do wickedness* in addition to all of your detestable things? ⁴⁴ Look! Everyone quoting a proverb* against you, he will quote, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Like her mother is her daughter!' ⁴⁵ You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. 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. ⁴⁷ And you have not only gone in their ways, but* you also did according to their detestable things. _⌊In such a short time_⌋* you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways. ⁴⁸ _⌊As surely as I live_⌋,'* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as* you and your daughters did. ⁴⁹ Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and _⌊prosperous ease_⌋* was to her and to her daughters, and _⌊she did not sustain the needy and the poor_⌋.* ⁵⁰ And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing _⌊before me_⌋,* and I removed them _⌊because_⌋* I saw it. ⁵¹ And Samaria did not sin _⌊according to even half of your sins_⌋,* and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.* ⁵² Also,* you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters* through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,* you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous. ⁵³ And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and even the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them, ⁵⁴ in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them. ⁵⁵ And as for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. ⁵⁶ And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride ⁵⁷ _⌊before_⌋* your evil was uncovered? It was like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who are despising you. ⁵⁸ Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵⁹ 'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it* to you _⌊according to what you have done_⌋,* who despised the oath to break covenant. ⁶⁰ And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋.* ⁶¹ And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, _⌊both the older and the younger_⌋,* and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. ⁶² And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, ⁶³ in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and _⌊you will not open your mouth again_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "And you, son of man,* will you judge? Will you judge the _⌊bloody city_⌋?* Then you must make known to her all of her detestable things! 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. 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. ¹⁴ Can your heart endure,* or can your hands be strong at the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act! ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ And I will be profaned by you before the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am Yahweh." '" ¹⁷ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ¹⁸ "Son of man,* the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them are as bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, even as silver dross, silver dross they became! ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become as silver dross, therefore look! I am gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem, 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.'" ²³ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,*

¹² * Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,* and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is still wandering with God and is faithful to the Holy One.

² Those of you who are haters of good and lovers of evil, who tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, ³ and who eat the flesh of my people, and strip their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop them like meat in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot."

¹ Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one! The oppressing city! ² She listens to no voice; she does not accept correction. In Yahweh she does not trust; to her God she does not draw near. ³ Her officials in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing until the morning.

³ Thus says Yahweh: 'I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be called the faithful city,* and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the holy mountain.'

³⁴ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together _⌊the way_⌋* a hen gathers* her own brood under her* wings, and you were not willing!

⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

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

² And leave out the courtyard outside of the temple, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for forty two months.

¹ How the gold has grown dim, the pure gold has changed. The stones of holiness are scattered at the head of every street. ² The precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold, how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay, the work of the potter's hands.

¹⁸ "Son of man,* the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them are as bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, even as silver dross, silver dross they became! ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become as silver dross, therefore look! I am gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem, 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.'"

¹⁸ When their drinking has ended, they surely indulge in sexual orgies. They love lewdness more than their* glory.

⁴ What will I do with you, O Ephraim? What will I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

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

⁸ And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous.

¹⁹ You shall not subvert* justice; you shall not _⌊show partiality_⌋;* and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind the eyes of the wise and misrepresents the words of the righteous.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they forsook the house of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors* and served the Asherahs and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem on account of this guilt. ¹⁹ But he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, and they did not obey. ²⁰ Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.'" ²¹ Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh.

¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

²³ The wicked will accept a bribe from the lap, in order to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴ Being a partner with a thief is hating one's life;* a curse he will hear, but not disclose.

¹⁴ Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders of his people and its princes. "And you! You have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses!

¹ Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil, and writers who have written harm, ² to guide the needy away from legal claims,* and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.

¹⁵ He who walks in righteousness and speaks uprightness, who rejects the gain of extortion, who _⌊refuses_⌋* a bribe, who stops up his ears* from hearing _⌊bloodshed_⌋* and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

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. ²⁹ Because of these things shall I not punish?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?

¹⁷ "But there is nothing in your eyes and your heart _⌊except_⌋* your unlawful gain, and on shedding the blood of the innocent, and on committing oppression and extortion."

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.

⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land.

³ By their wickedness they make the king glad, and the officials by their treacheries. ⁴ All of them commit adultery, like a burning oven whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire, and from kneading the dough until it is leavened. ⁵ On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;* he stretched out his hand with mockers.

¹⁵ Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal, so I began to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels.

¹ And I said, "Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?

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."

³ Their hands are upon evil, to do it well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave it together.

¹⁰ You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart _⌊against one another_⌋.'*

⁵ "Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear _⌊falsely_⌋,* and against the oppressors of the hired worker with his wages, the widow and the orphan, and _⌊the abusers of_⌋* the alien,* and yet do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

¹³ And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,'* but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

¹⁷ And he began to teach* and was saying to them, "Is it not written,
'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,'*
but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

² saying, "There was a certain judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not respect people. ³ And there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Grant me justice against my adversary!' ⁴ And he was not willing for a time, but after these things he said to himself, 'Even if I do not fear God or respect people, ⁵ yet because this widow is causing trouble for me, I will grant her justice, so that she does not wear me down in the end by her* coming back!'"

⁴⁶ saying to them, "It is written, 'And my house will be a house of prayer,'* but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

⁵ And it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes came together in Jerusalem, ⁶ and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all those who were from the high priest's family. ⁷ And they made them stand in their* midst and* began to ask,* "By what power or by what name did you do this?" ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a sick man—by what means* this man was healed— ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man stands before you healthy! ¹¹ This one* is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋.*

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.

⁴³ Call for songs of joy, O nations, concerning his people,* for the blood of his servants he will avenge, _⌊and he will take reprisals against his foes_⌋,* and he will make atonement for his land, his people."

² How he swore to Yahweh, he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

²⁵ You have ignored all my counsel, and my reproof you are not willing to accept. ²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity;* I will mock when panic* comes upon you.

²⁹ _⌊You shall have a song_⌋* as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute, to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel.

⁴ Say to those who are hasty of heart,
"Be strong; you must not fear! Look! your God will come with vengeance, with _⌊divine retribution_⌋.* He _⌊is the one who_⌋* will come and save you."

²⁶ And I will feed your oppressors their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their blood as with wine. Then* all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh, your savior and redeemer, the strong one of Jacob."

¹⁶ And you shall suck the milk of nations, and suck the breast of kings, and you shall know that I am Yahweh your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob.

² to _⌊proclaim_⌋* the year of Yahweh's favor, and our God's day of vengeance, to comfort all those in mourning,

⁴ for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my blood-vengeance has come!

³⁴ Their redeemer is strong, his name is Yahweh of hosts. Surely he will plead their case, in order to make peace for the earth, but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

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.

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

¹³ from now on waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.

⁸ Because of this her plagues will come in one day— death and mourning and famine— and she will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!"

²² Your silver has become as dross; Your wine is diluted with waters.

¹¹ Then I said, "Until when, Lord?"
And he said,
"Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is ruined and a waste, ¹² and Yahweh sends the people far away, and the abandonment is great in the midst of the land. ¹³ And _⌊even if only a tenth part remain_⌋,* _⌊again she will be destroyed_⌋* like a terebinth or like an oak, which although felled, a tree stump remains in them. The seed of holiness will be her tree stump."

²⁹ The bellows* are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. _⌊In vain_⌋* _⌊he keeps on refining_⌋,* but the wicked are not torn apart.

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?

³⁸ And I will purge the rebels from among you and the ones transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land _⌊where they are living as aliens_⌋,* but into the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am Yahweh.

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.

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.'"

¹¹ On that day you shall not be humiliated on account of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against me. For then I shall remove from your midst those exulting in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in _⌊my holy mountain_⌋.*

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.

³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the children of Levi, and he will refine them like gold and like silver, and they will present to Yahweh offerings* in righteousness.

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."

¹⁹ As many as I love, I reprove and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent!

³ Now the man, Moses, was more humble than any other person on the face of the earth,

¹⁵ Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them."

² And so then here is the king walking about before you. Now I am old and gray, but my sons (look at them!) are with you; and I have walked about before you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am! Testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one! Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, that I may shut my eyes _⌊regarding_⌋* him?-then I will restore it to you." ⁴ Then they said, "You have not exploited us or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from the hand of anyone." ⁵ So he said to them, "Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed one is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." Then they said, "He is witness."

²¹ How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

¹ See, a king will rule according to righteousness, and princes will rule according to justice. ² And each one will be like a hiding place from the wind and a covering from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a dry region, like the shade of a large rock in a weary land.

⁵ Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high; he filled Zion with justice and righteousness,

¹⁴ And the children of those who oppressed you shall come to you bending low, and all those who treated you disrespectfully shall bow down at the soles of your feet. And they shall call you the city of Yahweh, Zion of the holy one of Israel.

¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will _⌊appoint_⌋* peace as your overseer, and righteousness as _⌊your ruling body_⌋.* ¹⁸ Violence shall no longer be heard in your land; devastation or* destruction on your borders. And you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates, Praise.

²¹ And all your people shall be righteous; they shall take possession of the land forever, the shoot of his* planting, the work of my hands, to show my glory.

¹ For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not maintain a quiet attitude, until her righteousness goes out like the bright light, and her salvation burns like a torch. ² And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and _⌊you will be called_⌋* a new name that the mouth of Yahweh will designate.

²³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "They will again say these words* in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes,*
'Yahweh bless you, O settlement of righteousness, O hill of holiness.'

⁷ And I will restore the fortunes* of Judah and the fortunes* of Israel, and I will rebuild them as in the beginning.

¹¹ the voice of jubilation, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voices* of those who say, "Praise Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his loyal love is _⌊forever_⌋,"* the voices of those who bring thank offerings* to the house of Yahweh, for I will restore the fortunes* of the land as in the beginning,' says 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." ' ¹⁷ For thus says Yahweh: 'A man who sits on the throne of the house of Israel will not be cut off for David.

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 I, Yahweh, I will be for them _⌊as God_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken.

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_⌋.*

⁸ This shall be to him _⌊with respect to the land_⌋* as property in Israel; and so my princes shall not again oppress my people, but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes."

⁹ Because then I will _⌊make the speech of the nations pure_⌋;* that all of them might call on the name of Yahweh, to serve him _⌊in unison_⌋.*

¹³ The remnant of Israel shall not do wickedness; they shall not speak deception, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall frighten them."

⁸ and I will bring them and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their God in faithfulness* and in righteousness.'

²⁷ And every unclean thing and one who practices* detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

¹⁶ But Yahweh of hosts is exalted by justice, and the holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.

²¹ Declare and present your case, also let them consult together! Who _⌊made this known_⌋* from _⌊former times_⌋,* declared it from _⌊of old_⌋?* Was it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God besides me, and no savior besides me. ²² Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none besides me. 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.' ²⁴ 'Only in Yahweh,' one shall say to me, 'are righteousness and strength.' He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed. ²⁵ In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be in the right, and they shall boast."

¹² And they shall call them "The _⌊Holy People_⌋,* The Redeemed Of Yahweh," and _⌊you_⌋* shall be called "Sought After, A City Is Not Forsaken."

²⁴ being justified as a gift by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God made publicly available as the mercy seat* through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the passing over of previously committed sins, ²⁶ in the forbearance of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just and the one who justifies the person by faith* in Jesus.

²⁶ and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,
"The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ And this is the covenant from me with them* when I take away their sins."*

³⁰ But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

²¹ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him.

¹⁴ who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁸ because you* know that you were redeemed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb

⁶ "If ever you or any of your descendants* turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, 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.'"

⁹ "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.

³ Is not disaster for the evil one and ruin for the workers of mischief?

⁶ for Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,* but the way of the wicked will perish.

⁶ You destroy speakers of lies.* _⌊A man of bloodshed_⌋* and deceit Yahweh abhors.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations; you have destroyed the wicked. Their name you have blotted out forever and ever.

³⁸ But transgressors shall be destroyed altogether. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁷ For indeed, those distancing themselves from you will be ruined. You destroy each who abandons you for harlotry.

⁹ For behold, your enemies, O Yahweh, for behold, your enemies will perish. All the workers of evil will be scattered.

³⁵ Let sinners perish completely from the earth, and the wicked _⌊not remain alive_⌋.* Bless Yahweh, O my soul. Praise Yah.*

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

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

¹³ therefore this iniquity shall come for you like a breach about to fall, bulging out on a high wall _⌊that breaks_⌋* suddenly, in an instant.

¹¹ Look! All of you are kindlers of fire, who gird yourselves with flaming arrows. Walk in the light of your fire, and among the flaming arrows you have kindled! You shall have this from my hand: you shall lie down in* a place of torment.

¹¹ But* you _⌊who forsake_⌋* Yahweh, forgetting _⌊my holy mountain_⌋,* who set a table for Fortune, and who _⌊pour out_⌋* a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,

²⁴ "And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people* _⌊who have rebelled_⌋* against me,
for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

⁴ "And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,* ⁵ and those who bow down on the rooftops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh but also swearing by Milkom,* ⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

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

³ Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of _⌊a pregnant woman_⌋*, and they will not possibly escape.

⁸ with burning flame* giving punishment to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, ⁹ who will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,

⁷ But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

⁸ But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

²² And you will defile the plating of your silver idols and the covering of your gold image. You will scatter them like contaminated things;* you will say to it, "Filth!"*

⁷ For on that day, each one will reject his idols of silver and his idols of gold which your hands have made in sin for you.

¹⁶ All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated; the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.

⁵ who burn with lust among the oaks, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

¹⁷ Those who sanctify themselves and those who cleanse themselves _⌊to go into_⌋* the gardens after the one in the middle, eating the flesh of swine and detestable things* and rodents* together
shall come to an end!" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁰ "For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you were lying down as a prostitute.

⁶ Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate* Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there.

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.

⁶³ in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and _⌊you will not open your mouth again_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

³¹ And you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe _⌊yourself_⌋* over* your iniquities and over your detestable things.

¹³ On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their* shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and all your daughters-in-law* commit adultery.

³ Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses,* and we will say no more, "Our God," to the work of our hands because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.

⁸ O Ephraim, _⌊what have I to do_⌋* with idols? I myself have answered and looked after you.* I am like a luxuriant cypress; your fruit* comes from me.

²¹ Therefore what sort of fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

⁶ And I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned and hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers* and thornbushes.* And concerning the clouds, I will command _⌊them not to send_⌋* rain down upon it.

¹¹ And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.

⁵ Thus says Yahweh,
"Cursed is the person who trusts in humankind and makes flesh his _⌊strength_⌋,* and turns aside his heart from Yahweh. ⁶ And he will be like a juniper in the wilderness,* and he will not see when good comes, and he will dwell in the parched places in the desert,* in a land of salt flats,* where no one lives.

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."

⁹ Say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will it prosper? Will he not tear out its roots, and will he not make its fruit scaly, and it will wither, and all of the freshness of its vegetation will dry up? And to lift it from its roots _⌊will not require great strength or many people_⌋.* ¹⁰ And look! Though it is planted, will it prosper? _⌊When the east wind strikes it_⌋,* will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!" '"

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.'"

⁴ Waters made it great, the deep made it grow high; its rivers were going all around _⌊its planting area_⌋,* and its channels it sent out to all of the trees of the field. ⁵ Therefore it became tall, with its height more than all of the trees of the field, and its branches became numerous, and its branches became long _⌊from its sending its shoots from abundant water_⌋.* ⁶ In its branches all the birds* of the heaven* made their nest, and under its branches all the animals* of the field gave birth, and in its shadow all the many nations lived. ⁷ And it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root was toward much water. ⁸ Cedars in the garden of God could not be equal to it; fir trees* could not resemble its branches, and plane trees were not even like its branches; any tree even in the garden of God could not resemble it in its beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful with the abundance of its branches, and all of the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it.'" ¹⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊Because_⌋* it was tall in height and it set its treetop between* thick clouds, and _⌊he took pride in his tallness_⌋,* ¹¹ then* I gave it into the hand of the leader of nations; he _⌊dealt thoroughly_⌋* with it according to its wickedness. I drove it out. ¹² And strangers cut it off, the most ruthless of nations, and they abandoned it. On the mountains and in all of the valleys its branches fell, and its branches were broken in all the river channels of the land, and all the peoples of the world went out from its shadow, and they abandoned it. ¹³ On its fallen trunk all the birds* of the heaven* now dwell, and all the animals of the field were on its branches. ¹⁴ This occurred so that all of the trees with abundant water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between* their thick foliage,* and so that_⌊all of the trees that are abundantly watered_⌋* _⌊will not stand up to them_⌋* in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given over to death, to the world below in the midst of _⌊mortals_⌋,* to the people going down to the grave."* ¹⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "On the day of its going down to Sheol, I caused mourning; I covered over it with the deep, and I withheld its rivers, and many waters were restrained, and I brought gloom over it; Lebanon and all of the trees of the field, they had fainted because of it. ¹⁶ From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with the people going down to the grave,* and so in the world below all of the trees of Eden, the choice and the best of Lebanon, _⌊all the well-watered trees_⌋* were comforted! ¹⁷ They also went down with it to Sheol to _⌊those who died by the sword_⌋,* and its army who had lived in its shadow in the midst of nations. ¹⁸ _⌊To whom could you be compared, whether in glory or in majesty_⌋* among the trees of Eden? And yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with _⌊those who died by the sword_⌋.* That is Pharaoh and _⌊his entire_⌋* crowd!"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁹ And seeing a single fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And he said to it, "May there be no more fruit from you _⌊forever_⌋,* and the fig tree withered at once.

¹⁴ As he came up to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has burned with fire, and his bindings melted from his hands.

¹⁹ The land was burned through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, and the people became like fire fuel. _⌊People had no compassion toward each other_⌋.*

¹¹ Yahweh, though your hand reaches high, they do not see it.
Let them see, and let them be ashamed of the zeal of people. Indeed, let the fire of your enemies consume them.

⁴ _⌊I have no wrath_⌋.* Whatever gives me thorns and briers, I will step forth against in battle. I will set it on fire altogether.

¹⁴ Sinners are afraid in Zion; trembling has seized the godless: "Who of us can _⌊live_⌋* with devouring fire? Who of us can _⌊live_⌋* with everlasting consuming hearths?"

⁹ And its streams shall be changed to pitch and its soil to sulfur, and its land shall become like burning pitch. ¹⁰ Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be in ruins; forever and ever there will be no one who passes through her.

¹⁷ who brings out chariot and horse, army and mighty one. Together they lie down; they cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like a wick.

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!" '"

²¹ The chiefs of the warriors will speak to him from the middle of Sheol; with his helpers they have gone down; the uncircumcised lie still, _⌊those slain by the sword_⌋.*

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.

⁴³ And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go into hell—into the unquenchable fire!*

⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into hell!*

⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.'* ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.

¹⁴ And the sky was split apart like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their place. ¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

¹⁰ he himself also will drink of the wine of the anger of God that has been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath, and will be tortured with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torture went up _⌊forever and ever_⌋*, and those who worshiped the beast and his image did not have rest day and night, _⌊along with anyone who received_⌋* the mark of his name.

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

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