Isaiah 32 Cross References - LEB

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. ³ And the eyes of those who see will not gaze,* and the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴ And the _⌊minds_⌋* of the rash will understand _⌊knowledge_⌋,* and the tongues* of stammerers will hasten to speak clearly. ⁵ A fool will no longer be called noble, and a scoundrel will not be said to be eminent. ⁶ For a fool speaks folly, and his _⌊mind_⌋* does iniquity: to _⌊behave wickedly_⌋,* and to speak error concerning Yahweh, to leave the throat of the hungry empty, and he deprives the thirsty of drink. ⁷ And a scoundrel, his weapons are evil; he plans evil devices to ruin the poor with words of deception even* when the speech of the needy is right. ⁸ But* the nobleman plans noble things, and he stands upon noble things. ⁹ Women who are at ease, rise up; hear my voice! Carefree daughters, listen to my word! ¹⁰ _⌊In a year_⌋* you will tremble, carefree ones,
for the vintage will come to an end; the harvest will not come. ¹¹ Tremble, you who are at ease; tremble, carefree ones; strip, and strip yourself, and gird yourself on your loins,* ¹² mourning over breasts, over fields of delight, over the fruitful vine, ¹³ over the soil of my people. It goes up in thorns* and briers,* indeed over all of the houses of joy in the jubilant city. ¹⁴ For the palace will be forsaken, the _⌊crowded city_⌋* deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become* a cave forever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture _⌊for_⌋* flocks. ¹⁵ Until a spirit is poured out on us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is reckoned as the forest. ¹⁶ Then* justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will live in the fruitful field. ¹⁷ And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the work of righteousness, quietness and security forever. ¹⁸ And my people will dwell in a settlement of peace and in a dwelling place of security and in undisturbed resting places. ¹⁹ And it hails when _⌊the forest comes down_⌋,* and the city will become low in humiliation. ²⁰ Happy are you who sow by all waters, who let the foot of the ox and the donkey go free.

³ The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; 'He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God.

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 For the music director; according to The Lilies. Of the sons of Korah. A maskil. A song of love.*
My heart is moved with a good word; I recite my _⌊compositions_⌋* to the king. My tongue is the pen of a skilled scribe.

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. ⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you from among your companions with festive oil.

¹ Of Solomon.*
O God, give your judgments to the king, and your righteousness to the king's son. ² May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. ³ Let the mountains yield prosperity* for the people, and the hills in righteousness. ⁴ May he provide justice for the poor of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.

⁴ And the strength of the king loves justice.* You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

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

⁴ But he shall judge the poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.

⁶ and a spirit of justice to the one who sits over judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

¹ "Comfort; comfort my people," says your God. ² "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has _⌊received_⌋* from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins." ³ A voice is calling in the wilderness, "Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God! ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall become low, And the rough ground shall be like a plain, and the rugged ground like a valley-plain. ⁵ And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all _⌊humankind_⌋* together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

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

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.

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.

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

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!

²¹ so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁸ but concerning the Son,
"Your throne, O God, is _⌊forever and ever_⌋*, and the scepter of righteous is the scepter of your kingdom. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; because of this God, your God, has anointed you with the olive oil of joy more than your companions.*

¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called "Faithful" and "True," and with justice* he judges and makes war.

² Incline your ear to me. Quickly deliver me. Become my rock of refuge, _⌊a fortified keep_⌋* to save me. ³ For you are my rock and my fortress. So, for the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.

⁷ You are my hiding place; from trouble you preserve me. With cries of deliverance you surround me. Selah

¹ A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.*
O God, you are my God; I will seek you diligently. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you as in a dry and weary land without water.

⁹ Deliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh. I take refuge in you.*

³ Do not place trust in princes, in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance. ⁴ His breath departs; he returns to his plot;* on that day his plans perish. ⁵ Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,

⁵ Then Yahweh will create over all of the site* of _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* and over her assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the brightness of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy, ⁶ and it will be a shelter for shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and a hiding place from rainstorm and from rain.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you* a sign. Look! the virgin* is with child and she is about to give birth to a son, and she shall call his name 'God with us.'

¹⁰ _⌊Make a plan_⌋,* but it will be frustrated! Speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us! ¹¹ For Yahweh said this to me _⌊while his hand weighed heavily on me_⌋,* and he _⌊warned me not to walk_⌋* in the way of this people, saying, ¹² "You must not call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and you must not _⌊share its fear_⌋,* and you must not be in dread. ¹³ You shall regard Yahweh of hosts as holy, and he is your* fear, and he is your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become like a sanctuary and a stumbling-stone, and like a stumbling-rock for the two houses of Israel, like a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁶ For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁴ For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless was like a rainstorm against a wall,*

²⁰ Go, my people, enter into your chambers and shut your doors* behind you; hide for _⌊a very little_⌋* while, until the wrath has passed over. ²¹ For look! Yahweh is about to come out from his place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants* of the earth against him, and the earth will disclose her blood and will no longer cover her slain.

¹⁷ And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,* and waters will flood over the hiding place.

¹⁸ And my people will dwell in a settlement of peace and in a dwelling place of security and in undisturbed resting places. ¹⁹ And it hails when _⌊the forest comes down_⌋,* and the city will become low in humiliation.

⁶ Then the lame shall leap like the deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy, for waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. ⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place is in a settlement of jackals; the grass shall become like reeds* and rushes.*

¹⁸ I will open rivers on the barren heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness like a pool of water and the land of dryness like springs of water.

²⁰ The animals of the field will honor me, jackals and daughters of the ostrich, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give a drink to my chosen people,

³ For I will pour out water on a thirsty land and streams on dry ground. I will pour my spirit out on your descendants* and my blessing on your offspring.

⁴ And he will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God. And they will live, for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth. ⁵ And this one will be peace. As for the Assyrian,* when he comes into our land and when he treads on our fortresses, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.

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.

²⁴ "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and its fall was great."

³⁷ Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink,

¹⁶ And most certainly, great is the mystery of godliness:
Who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated by* the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles*, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

¹ And he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb

¹⁸ And on that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of gloom and darkness.

²⁴ And those who err in spirit will _⌊acquire_⌋* understanding, and those who grumble will learn instruction.

²⁶ And the light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when Yahweh binds up the breakage of his people, and he heals the wound of his blow.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened. ⁶ Then the lame shall leap like the deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy, for waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

¹³ And all your children shall be pupils of Yahweh, and the peace of your children shall be great.

¹ "Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you. ² For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but* Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.

³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Know Yahweh,' for all of them will know me, from their _⌊smallest_⌋* and up to their _⌊greatest_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember."

¹¹ And he answered and* said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those people it has not been granted.

³⁷ And they were amazed beyond all measure, saying, "He has done all things well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!"

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man and implored him that he would touch him. ²³ And he took hold of the blind man's hand and* led him outside the village, and after* spitting in his eyes, he placed his hands on him and* asked him, "Do you see anything?" ²⁴ And looking up he said, "I see people, for I see them* like trees walking around." ²⁵ Then he placed his* hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes and was cured, and could see everything clearly.

¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

⁶ For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness,"* is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.*

²⁰ And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because* you do not know the truth, but because* you do know it, and because* every lie is not of the truth.

¹¹ And Yahweh said to him, "Who gave a mouth to humankind, or who makes mute or deaf or sighted or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?

⁸ So they read the book from the law* of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that they could understand the reading. ⁹ Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, "This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn nor weep." For all of the people wept when they heard the words of the law.* ¹⁰ Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge." ¹¹ So the Levites silenced all of the people, saying, "Silence, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved." ¹² All of the people went to eat, to drink, to send a share, and to have great joy because they understood the words that they had made known to them.

⁹ Your palate is like the best wine that goes down for my beloved, smoothly gliding over my lips and teeth.*

²⁵ At that time Jesus answered and* said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children.*

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and* said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this* to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

¹⁴ _⌊Therefore make up your minds_⌋* not to prepare in advance to speak in your own defense, ¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your opponents will not be able to resist or contradict.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages* as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out. ⁵ Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when* this sound occurred, the crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. ⁷ And they were astounded and astonished, saying, "Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how do we hear, each one of us, in _⌊our own native language_⌋?* ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those residing in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,* ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and the Romans who were in town, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!" ¹² And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying _⌊to one another_⌋,* "_⌊What can this mean?_⌋"*

¹³ Now when they* saw the boldness of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were astonished, and recognized them, that they had been with Jesus.

⁷ And the word of God kept spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was increasing greatly, and a large number of priests began obeying* the faith.

⁹ Indeed, I myself thought it was necessary to do many things opposed to the name of Jesus the Nazarene, ¹⁰ which I also did in Jerusalem, and not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when* they were being executed, I cast my vote* against them.* ¹¹ And throughout all the synagogues I punished them often and* tried to force* them* to blaspheme, and because I* was enraged at them beyond measure, I was pursuing them* even as far as to foreign cities.

²³ and they were only hearing, "The one formerly persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith that formerly he was attempting to destroy,"

³ The name of the man was Nabal,* and the name of his wife was Abigail.* Now the woman was wise and beautiful, but the man was stubborn and _⌊mean_⌋,* and he was as his heart.* ⁴ David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal; _⌊you will greet him in my name_⌋.* ⁶ Then you must say to him, 'Long life to you, and _⌊may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours_⌋.* ⁷ Now I have heard that _⌊you have shearers_⌋.* Now while your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs was missing, all the days they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your servants* and they will tell you! Let the young men* find favor in your eyes because we have come on a feast day. Please give _⌊whatever you have on hand_⌋* for your servants and for your son David."

²⁵ Please do not let my lord set his heart against _⌊this worthless man_⌋,* Nabal; for as his name, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him! But I, your female servant, did not see the young men* of my lord whom you sent.

⁴ In his eyes a rejected one is contemptible, but he honors those who respect Yahweh. He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of _⌊the stingy_⌋,* and do not desire his delicacies. ⁷ For, like hair in his _⌊throat_⌋,* so it is.* "Eat and drink!" he will say to you, but his heart will not be with you. ⁸ Your morsel you have eaten, you will vomit it up, and you will waste your pleasant words.

²⁰ Ah! Those who call evil good and good evil, those who put darkness for light and light for darkness, those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

¹⁸ You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.

¹³ Just as the ancient proverb says, 'From the wicked, wickedness goes out,' but my hand will not be against you!

¹⁰ But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, there are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters. ¹¹ Should I take my bread and my water and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?

⁵ Is not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities? ⁶ "Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing, and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked. ⁷ You have given no water for the weary to drink, and you withheld food from the hungry. ⁸ And the land _⌊belongs to the man of power_⌋,* and _⌊the favored_⌋* lives in it. ⁹ You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans were crushed.

² They* remove border stones; they seize flocks, and they pasture them. ³ They drive away the donkey of orphans; they take the widow's ox as a pledge. ⁴ They thrust the poor off the road; the needy of the earth hide themselves together.* ⁵ "Look, like wild donkeys in the desert they* go out to their labor as searchers for the prey; the wilderness is* _⌊their_⌋* food for the young. ⁶ They reap their* fodder in the field, and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked. ⁷ They spend the night naked, _⌊without_⌋* clothing, and they have no garment in the cold. ⁸ They are wet from the rainstorm of the mountains,* and they cling to the rock _⌊without_⌋* refuge. ⁹ "They* snatch the orphan from the breast, and they take a pledge against the needy.* ¹⁰ They* go about naked, without clothing, and hungry, they carry the sheaves.* ¹¹ Between their terraces they press out oil; they tread the presses, but* they are thirsty. ¹² From the city people groan, and the throat* of the wounded cries for help; yet* God does not _⌊regard it as unseemly_⌋.* ¹³ "Those are among the ones rebelling against the light; they do not recognize his ways, and they do not stay in his paths. ¹⁴ _⌊At dusk_⌋* the murderer rises; he kills the needy and the poor, and in the night he is like a* thief. ¹⁵ And the eye of the adulterer waits for dusk, saying, _⌊'No eye will see me,'_⌋* and he places a covering on his face. ¹⁶ He digs through houses in the darkness; by day they shut themselves in— they do not know the light

¹ For the music director, according to Do not Destroy. Of David. A miktam.*
Do you really speak what is right when silent?* Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?* ² No, in your heart you plan injustices; in the land* you weigh out the violence of your hands.

²⁴ There is one who gives yet _⌊grows richer_⌋,* but he who withholds _⌊what is right_⌋* only finds need. ²⁵ A person of blessing will be enriched, and he who gives water also will be refreshed. ²⁶ He who withholds grain, the people curse him, but a blessing is for the head of him who sells.

³ As for the folly of humankind, its way leads to ruin, and against Yahweh his heart* will rage.

¹⁵ _⌊Why_⌋* do you crush my people and grind the face of the poor?"
_⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁷ Therefore the Lord did not rejoice over its young men, and he did not have compassion on its orphans and widows, for everyone was godless and an evildoer, and every mouth was speaking folly. In all of this his anger did not turn away, and still his hand is stretched out.

²³ Can a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then you also will be able to do good, who are accustomed to doing evil.

⁶ Because they are kindled* like an oven, their heart burns within them; all night their anger _⌊smolders_⌋,* in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. ⁷ All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour* their rulers. All their kings have fallen; there is none who calls to me amongst them.

⁶ Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke the punishment,* because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals! ⁷ Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father _⌊have sexual relations with_⌋* the same girl, so that they profane my holy name.

⁶ _⌊That we can_⌋* buy the powerless with silver and the poor for the sake of a pair of sandals, and we can sell the waste of the grain?"

¹ Woe to those who plan wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds! In the light of the morning they did it, because they have power in their hands. ² They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and they take them away. They oppress a man and his house; a man and his inheritance.

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

³⁴ Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say good things when you* are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good person from his* good treasury brings out good things, and the evil person from his* evil treasury brings out evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that every worthless word that they speak, people will give an account for it on the day of judgment!

¹⁹ For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech.

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.*

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

²¹ _⌊You have no_⌋* part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you!"

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he* is dragged away and enticed by his own desires. ¹⁵ Then desire, after it* has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it* is brought to completion, gives birth to death.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our* God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

⁵ So also the tongue is a small member of the body* and boasts great things. Behold how small a fire sets ablaze how great a forest! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire! The world of unrighteousness,* the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire _⌊the course of human existence_⌋*, being set on fire by hell.

¹⁰ Seat two men, _⌊scoundrels_⌋,* opposite him. Let them witness against him saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then you shall bring him out and stone him so that he dies." ¹¹ The men of his city and the elders and nobles who were living in his city did according to what Jezebel had sent to them, as was written in the letters which she had sent to them. ¹² They called a fast, and they seated Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ Then the two men, _⌊scoundrels_⌋,* came, sat opposite him, and the _⌊scoundrels_⌋* witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died. ¹⁴ They sent to Jezebel saying, "Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead."

⁷ His mouth is filled with cursing, with deceits and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and evil. ⁸ He sits in ambush in villages; in the hiding places he kills the innocent. His eyes _⌊lurk_⌋* for the helpless. ⁹ He lies in ambush _⌊secretly,_⌋* like a lion in a thicket. He lies in ambush to seize the poor; he seizes the poor by catching him in his net. ¹⁰ He is crushed;* he is bowed down;* so* the helpless host* falls by his _⌊might_⌋.*

⁴ to shoot from* their* hiding places at the blameless. Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. ⁵ They encourage themselves in the evil matter. They talk of secretly laying snares. They say, "Who will see them?" ⁶ _⌊They carefully plot_⌋* injustices saying, "We have perfected _⌊the perfect plot_⌋!"* Both the _⌊inner thought_⌋* and heart of a man are deep.

² "How long will you judge unjustly and _⌊show favoritism to the wicked_⌋?* Selah 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." ⁵ They do not know or consider.* They go about in the darkness, so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

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.

²³ Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe and remove the justice of the innocent from him.

³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness. ⁴ There is nobody _⌊who pleads with_⌋* justice, and there is nobody who judges with honesty. They rely on nothing and speak vanity. They conceive trouble and beget iniquity;

¹ The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up _⌊the brokenhearted_⌋,* to _⌊proclaim_⌋* release to the captives and liberation to those who are bound,

²⁶ For wicked people are found among my people, they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers, they set up a trap, they catch humans. ²⁷ Like a cage full of birds,* so their houses are full of fraud. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they have become great, and they have become rich. ²⁸ They have grown fat, they have grown sleek, also, _⌊their evil deeds have no limit_⌋.* They do not judge with justice, the legal cause of the orphan, or allow it to succeed, and the legal case of the poor, they do not defend.

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

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

² The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind. All of them lie in wait; each hunts his brother with a net. 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.

⁴ and plotted in order that they could arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.*

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and* said, "What are you willing to give me if I in turn deliver him to you?" So they set out for him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶ And from that time on, he began seeking a favorable opportunity in order that he could betray him.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰ And they did not find it,* although* many false witnesses came forward. And finally two came forward

¹¹ Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!" ¹² And they incited the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came up and* seized him and brought him* to the Sanhedrin.* ¹³ And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place* and the law!

¹ Then David said, "Is there still anyone who is left for the house of Saul that I may show loyal love to him for the sake of Jonathan?" ² Now Saul's household had a servant whose name was Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, "Are you Ziba?" He said, "_⌊At your service_⌋!"* ³ Then the king said, "But is there still anyone of Saul's household that I may show the loyal love of God with him?" And Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in the feet." ⁴ The king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "_⌊He is here_⌋* in the house of Makir the son of Ammiel in Lo Debar." ⁵ So King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar. ⁶ So Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David. And he fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, "Mephibosheth," and he said, "_⌊I am ready to serve you_⌋."* ⁷ Then David said to him, "Don't be afraid, for _⌊I will certainly show_⌋* loyal love to you for the sake of Jonathan your father, and I will restore to you all the lands of Saul your father. And you shall always eat food at my table." ⁸ Then he* did obeisance and said, "What is your servant that you have paid attention to the dead dog like me?" ⁹ David summoned Ziba the servant of Saul and said to him, "All that was Saul's and all his household I have given to the son of your master. ¹⁰ You shall till the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; you shall bring in the produce and it shall be food for the son of your master that he may eat. But Mephibosheth the son of your master may always eat food at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty slaves.) ¹¹ Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my master the king commands his servant, so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth was eating at his table as one of the sons of the king. ¹² Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah, and all of the dwelling of the household of Ziba became servants for Mephibosheth. ¹³ And Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, because he was continually eating at the table of the king, even though he was lame in both of his feet.

¹⁶ "If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them, or* I have caused the widow's eyes to fail, ¹⁷ or I have eaten my morsel _⌊alone_⌋,* and the orphan has not eaten from it ¹⁸ (for from my childhood he* _⌊grew up with_⌋* me like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided her*), ¹⁹ if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing or* that there is no covering for the poor, ²⁰ if his loins have not blessed me, or* by means of my sheep's fleece he has warmed himself, ²¹ if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,

⁹ _⌊He gives lavishly_⌋* to the needy; his righteousness endures forever. His horn rises high in honor.

²⁴ There is one who gives yet _⌊grows richer_⌋,* but he who withholds _⌊what is right_⌋* only finds need. ²⁵ A person of blessing will be enriched, and he who gives water also will be refreshed.

³³ And if* you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same! ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive back, what kind of credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal amount! ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³⁹ So Peter got up and* accompanied them. When he* arrived, they brought him* up to the upstairs room, and all the widows came to him, weeping and showing him* tunics and other clothing that Dorcas used to make while she* was with them.

²⁹ So from the disciples, _⌊according to their ability to give_⌋,* each one of them determined to send financial aid* for support to the brothers who lived in Judea, ³⁰ which they also did, sending the aid* to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

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

⁶ Now the point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one should give as he has decided in his heart, not _⌊reluctantly_⌋* or from compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to cause all grace to abound to you, so that in everything at all times, because you* have enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work. ⁹ Just as it is written,
"He scattered widely, he gave to the poor; his righteousness remains _⌊forever_⌋*."* ¹⁰ Now the one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed, and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow, ¹¹ being made rich in every way for all generosity, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God,

⁵⁶ The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall* not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, _⌊shall be mean to her beloved husband_⌋* and against her son and against her daughter,

⁷ And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and _⌊he cried out loud_⌋* and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

¹ For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.*
Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all you inhabitants of the world, ² both low and high, rich and poor together.

¹⁶ And Yahweh said: "Because* the daughters of Zion are haughty, and they walk with outstretched neck, and they give flirting glances with their eyes, _⌊mincing along as they go_⌋,* and _⌊with their feet they rattle their bangles_⌋,*

²³ Listen, and hear my voice! Listen attentively, and hear my word!

⁷ And you said, "I shall be an eternal mistress forever!" You did not set these things upon your heart; you did not remember its end. ⁸ Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits* in security, who says* in her heart, "I am, and besides me there is no one. I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children."

² The lovely and the delicate, the daughter of Jerusalem, I will destroy. ³ Shepherds and their flocks will come against her, they will pitch their tents against her all around, they will pasture, each his _⌊portion_⌋.* ⁴ _⌊Sanctify_⌋* war against her. Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day turns, for the shadows of evening are lengthened. ⁵ Arise, and let us attack by night, and let us destroy her citadel fortresses." ⁶ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Cut down trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished, its oppression is in its midst.

¹¹ Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has been quiet on his dregs, and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel, and he has not gone into exile. _⌊Therefore_⌋* his taste has remained unchanged, and his fragrance has not changed. ¹² _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will send to him _⌊decanters_⌋,* and they will decant him, and his vessels they will empty out, and their jars they will smash.

⁵ The ones who eat delicacies, they are ruined in the streets; the ones nurtured in purple lie on piles of trash.

¹ Alas for those being at ease in Zion, and those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the best of the nations! The house of Israel resorts to them. ² Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there to Hamath Rabbah and go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms, or is their territory greater than your territory? ³ You that put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of violence! ⁴ Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from the sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of the animal stall. ⁵ Alas for those who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music. ⁶ Alas for those who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

¹⁵ This is the city of rejoicing that lived securely; the one saying in her heart, "_⌊I am, and there is none besides me_⌋."* How she has become a desolation, a lair for wild animals! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

⁹ The one who has ears, let him hear!"

¹⁷ the Lord will make the heads* of the daughters of Zion scabby, and Yahweh will lay their foreheads bare." ¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets and the headbands and the crescent necklaces, ¹⁹ the pendants and the bracelets and the veils, ²⁰ the headdresses and the armlets and the sashes, and the _⌊perfume boxes_⌋* and the amulets, ²¹ the signet rings and the nose rings, ²² the festal robes and the mantles, and the cloaks and the handbags, ²³ and the mirrors and the linen garments, and the turbans and the wraps. ²⁴ And this shall happen: There will be a stench instead of perfume, and a rope instead of a sash, and baldness instead of a well-set hairdo, and a clothing wrap of sackcloth instead of a rich robe, branding instead of beauty. ²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle. ²⁶ And her* gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall be banished; she shall sit upon the ground.

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.

²³ And this shall happen on that day: Every place where there are a thousand vines* for a thousand silver pieces will become briers,* and it will be thornbushes.*

¹⁰ And joy and gladness are* taken away from the fruitful land, and in the vineyards no one exults, no one shouts for joy; no treader treads wine in the presses; I have put to an end to the jubilant shout.

⁷ The new wine dries up; the vine languishes. All the merry of heart sigh; ⁸ the joy of the tambourine has stopped. The noise of the jubilant has ceased; the joy of the lyre has stopped. ⁹ They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 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.

¹³ "_⌊I will take away their harvest_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "There are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree, and the leaves wither, and what I gave to them passed over them." '"

¹⁰ And I will exterminate from them the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.*

¹² and I will lay waste to her vines* and her fig trees,* of which she said, "They are my payment for prostitution, which my lovers gave to me." I will make them a forest, and the wild animals* of the field will devour them.

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

⁷ It has made my vine a desolation, and my fig tree a completely splintered stump. It has stripped them bare and thrown them down; their branches have turned white.

¹² The vine withers and the fig tree droops. The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree —all the trees of the field—are dried up. Indeed, joy is dried up among the sons of men.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor there be fruit on the vines; the yield of the olive tree fails, and the cultivated fields do not yield food; the flock is cut off from the animal pen, and there is no cattle in the stalls,

¹³ Then their wealth shall be as plunder, and their homes as desolation. And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine."

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_⌋.*

¹⁹ and they will enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the ground from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty _⌊when he rises_⌋* to terrify the earth.

²¹ to enter into the crevices of the rocks and into the clefts of the crags from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty, _⌊when he rises_⌋* to terrify the earth.

²⁴ And this shall happen: There will be a stench instead of perfume, and a rope instead of a sash, and baldness instead of a well-set hairdo, and a clothing wrap of sackcloth instead of a rich robe, branding instead of beauty.

³ They gird themselves with sackcloth in its streets; on its roofs and public squares everyone wails, going down in weeping.

⁴ so shall the king of Assyria lead the captives* of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, _⌊with bared buttocks_⌋,* the shame of Egypt.

⁴ Therefore I said,
"Look away from me, let me _⌊weep bitterly_⌋;* you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people." ⁵ For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion* in the valley of vision, a tearing down of walls* and a cry for help to the mountains.*

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?"

¹ Come down and sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea! For _⌊they shall no longer call_⌋* you tender and delicate. ² Take the pair of mill stones and grind flour! Uncover your veil, strip off your skirt, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers! ³ Your nakedness shall be exposed; indeed, your shame shall become visible. I will take vengeance and I will not _⌊spare_⌋* a person.

⁸ Because of this gird yourselves with sackcloth,* lament and wail, for _⌊the burning anger_⌋* of Yahweh has not turned back from us.

²⁶ O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth, and roll about in the ashes in mourning, a mourning ceremony as for an only child. Make for yourself wailing of bitterness, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

³ "Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth. Lament and run back and forth among the walls. For Milcom will go into exile, his priests and his officials together.

³ Lest I strip her naked and expose her like the day when she was born; I will make her like the desert and turn her into parched land; I will kill her with thirst.

⁸ On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the _⌊ostriches_⌋.* ⁹ For her wounds are incurable, because it has come to Judah. It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Do not tell it in Gath; you must not weep at all. In Beth-le-Aphrah roll yourself in dust. ¹¹ Pass on, you inhabitants of Shaphir, in naked shame. The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ha-Ezel will take its protection from you.

²⁷ And a great crowd of the people were following him, and of women who were mourning and lamenting him. ²⁸ But turning to them, Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children! ²⁹ For behold, days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not give birth, and the breasts that did not nurse!' ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'

⁵ You have lived self-indulgently on the earth* and have lived luxuriously. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

⁷ For Yahweh your God is bringing you to a good land with streams of water, springs and underground water, welling up in the valleys* and in the hills,* ⁸ to a land of wheat and barley and vines* and fig trees* and pomegranate trees,* a land of olive trees,* olive oil and honey;

¹¹ But the land that you are about to cross into to take possession of it is a land of hills and valleys, and by the rain of the heaven it drinks water, ¹² a land that Yahweh your God is caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God are on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of the year.

¹¹ My eyes have _⌊spent all their tears_⌋;* _⌊my stomach_⌋* is in torment, _⌊my heart_⌋* is poured out on the earth because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because child and babe faint in the public squares of a city.

³ Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; but the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness. ⁴ The tongue of the nursling cleaves to its palate in thirst. Children beg for food, _⌊no one lays it out before them_⌋.*

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.

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—

⁷ _⌊Her goddess is taken out and taken into exile_⌋;* her maidservants moan like doves; they beat on their breasts.

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

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 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,

² _⌊noisy_⌋,* tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain by the sword, nor are they dead from battle.

¹² And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day
for weeping and mourning, and for baldness and girding _⌊with_⌋* sackcloth. ¹³ But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen* and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

¹³ And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds* and thistle plants* in her fortresses; and it shall be the settlement of jackals, green grass for the daughters of an ostrich.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the palace* of the king and the houses* of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁶ For look! If they flee from the destruction, Egypt will gather them; Memphis* will bury them. Nettles will possess their precious things of silver; thorns will be in their tents.

⁸ The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars. They will say to the mountains, "Cover us," and to the hills, "Fall on us."

⁷ As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give to her so much torment and mourning, because in her heart she said, 'I sit as a queen, and am not a widow, and I will never see mourning!' 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!"

⁹ He burned the temple of Yahweh, the palace of the king, and all of the houses of Jerusalem; every large house he burned with fire.

¹¹ They give drink for every beast of the field. The wild donkeys _⌊quench_⌋* their thirst.

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

¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like _⌊when God overthrew_⌋* Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ It will not be inhabited forever, and it will not be dwelled in _⌊forever_⌋;* and no Arab will pitch a tent there, and shepherds will not allow their flocks to lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures, and the daughters of ostriches* will live there, and goats will dance there. ²² And hyenas will answer in its palaces, and jackals in the pleasure palaces; and its time _⌊is coming soon_⌋,* and its days will not be prolonged.

¹ Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. ² And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. ³ The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered,
for Yahweh has spoken this word.

¹⁰ The city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut _⌊so that no one can enter_⌋;*

¹² Desolation is left in the city; the gate is crushed into a state of ruin.

² For you have _⌊made_⌋* the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the palace of foreigners _⌊is no longer_⌋* a city; it will _⌊never_⌋* be rebuilt.

¹⁰ For the fortified city is solitary, a settlement deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; the calf grazes there, lies down there and destroys its branches.

¹¹ But* the large bird and the hedgehog shall take possession of it, and the owl and the raven shall live in it. And he shall stretch the measuring line of confusion out over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. ¹² Its nobles—but no kingdom is there—shall call, and all its princes shall be nothing. ¹³ And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds* and thistle plants* in her fortresses; and it shall be the settlement of jackals, green grass for the daughters of an ostrich. ¹⁴ And desert creatures shall meet with hyenas, and a goat-demon shall call to his neighbor; surely there Lilith* shall repose, and she shall find a resting place for herself. ¹⁵ There the owl shall nest and lay and hatch and care for her chicks in her shadow; surely there the birds of prey shall be gathered, each one with her mate. ¹⁶ Seek from the book of Yahweh and _⌊read_⌋;*
none of these shall be missing; none shall miss her mate. For my* mouth _⌊is the one that_⌋* has commanded, and his spirit _⌊is the one that_⌋* has gathered them. ¹⁷ And he _⌊is the one that_⌋* has cast the lot for them, and his hand has apportioned it to them with the measuring line; they shall take possession of it forever, they shall live in it _⌊from generation to generation_⌋.*

²⁰ "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

²⁴ and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations,* and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

² And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit and a haunt of every unclean bird and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal. ³ For all the nations have drunk* from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the power of her sensuality."

³⁰ You send forth your Spirit,* they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

³³ He turns rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁵ He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water.

²³ May you turn to my argument!* Behold, I shall pour out my spirit upon you; I will make my words known to you.

² And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him— a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. ³ And his _⌊breath_⌋* is in the fear of Yahweh. And he shall judge not by his eyesight, and he shall rebuke not by _⌊what he hears with_⌋* his ears.

¹⁷ _⌊In a very little while_⌋* shall not Lebanon change into a fruitful land, and the fruitful land be regarded as a forest?

¹ Wilderness and dry land shall be glad,* and desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. ² It shall blossom abundantly, and it shall rejoice indeed with rejoicing and exulting. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. _⌊They are the ones who_⌋* shall see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place is in a settlement of jackals; the grass shall become like reeds* and rushes.*

⁸ Trickle, O heavens, from above, and let clouds trickle with righteousness; let the earth open so that* salvation may be fruitful, and let it cause righteousness to sprout along with it.* I myself, Yahweh, have created it.

¹ "Sing for joy, barren woman; who has not borne! Burst forth into rejoicing and rejoice, she who has not been in labor! For the children of the desolate woman are more than the children of the married woman," says Yahweh. ² "Enlarge the site of your tent, and let them stretch out the tent curtains of your dwelling place. You must not spare; make your tent cords long and strengthen your pegs, ³ for you will spread out to the right and to the left. And your descendants* will be heir to the nations, and they will inhabit desolate towns.

¹¹ so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me without success, but shall accomplish* what I desire and be successful in the thing for which I sent it. ¹² For you shall go out in joy, and you shall be led in peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, rejoicing and all the trees of the field shall clap hands.* ¹³ Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper shall go up; instead of the brier, the myrtle shall go up, and it shall serve as a memorial to Yahweh, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

¹⁹ So* they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the sunrise, for he will come like a narrow stream; the wind of Yahweh drives it on. ²⁰ "And a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²¹ "And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh:
my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or* from the mouths* of your _⌊children_⌋,* or* from the mouths* of _⌊your children's children_⌋,"* says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."

¹⁹ The sun shall no longer be your light by day, and for bright light the moon shall not give you light, but* Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. ²⁰ Your sun shall no longer go down, and your moon shall not _⌊wane_⌋,* for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall come to an end. 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. ²² The small one shall become a tribe, and the smallest one a mighty nation.
I am Yahweh; I will hasten it in its time."

³ to _⌊give_⌋* for those in mourning in Zion, to give them a head wrap instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. And _⌊they will be called_⌋* oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory. ⁴ And they shall build the ancient ruins, they shall erect the former deserted places. And they shall restore the _⌊devastated cities_⌋,* the deserted places of _⌊many generations_⌋.* ⁵ And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,* and _⌊foreigners_⌋* shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

¹¹ Then* his people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is the one who led up them from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who puts _⌊his Holy Spirit_⌋* inside him,

²⁹ And I will not hide my face again from them when I pour out my Spirit over* the house of Israel," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰ * The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of the living God." ¹¹ Then the children of Judah and Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head; and _⌊they will take possession of_⌋* the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.*

²⁸ * And it will happen afterward thus: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. ²⁹ And also on the male slaves and on the female slaves, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

¹⁰ " 'I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants* of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as one grieves bitterly over a firstborn.

⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending out* what was promised by my Father upon you, but you stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

³⁹ Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given,* because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

¹⁷ 'And it will be in the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ And even on my male slaves and on my female slaves I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

³³ Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out this that you see and hear.*

¹⁸ do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, "Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in." ²⁰ Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. ²¹ For if God did not spare the _⌊natural_⌋* branches, neither will he spare you.* ²² See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God—if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And those also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are _⌊natural branches_⌋* be grafted into their own olive tree? ²⁵ For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise _⌊in your own sight_⌋,* that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 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.

⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be even more with glory?

⁵ he saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we have done, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

¹⁴ For Yahweh will not abandon his people, nor forsake his inheritance. ¹⁵ For judgment will return to righteousness,* and all the upright in heart will follow after it.

⁸ And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not travel through it, but* it is for them, he who walks on the way; and fools shall not wander about.

⁴ He will not grow faint, and he will not be broken until he has established justice in the earth. And the coastlands wait for his teaching.

⁶ And the _⌊foreigners_⌋* who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, _⌊so as not to profane_⌋* it, and those who keep hold of my covenant, ⁷ I will bring them to _⌊my holy mountain_⌋;* I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices _⌊will be accepted_⌋* on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples," ⁸ _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, who gathers* the scattered ones of Israel (still I will gather to* him, to his gathered ones).

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.

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor greedy persons, not drunkards, not abusive persons, not swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And some of you were these things, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus* and by the Spirit of our God.

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,

⁹ But you are a chosen race,* a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, ¹⁰ who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, the ones who were not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.* ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against your* soul, ¹² maintaining your good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in the things in which they slander you as evildoers, by seeing your good deeds they may glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹ Therefore, because* Christ suffered in the flesh, you also equip yourselves with the same way of thinking, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for the will of God. ³ For the time that has passed was sufficient _⌊to do what the Gentiles desire to do_⌋*, having lived in licentiousness, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries, ⁴ with respect to which they are surprised when* you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation, and so they* revile you.

² May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. ³ Let the mountains yield prosperity* for the people, and the hills in righteousness.

⁸ I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, because he will speak peace to his people, even his faithful ones,* but let them not return to folly.

⁶ For he will not be shaken forever; the righteous _⌊will be remembered forever_⌋.* ⁷ He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is steadfast, secure* in Yahweh. ⁸ His heart is sustained; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his enemies. ⁹ _⌊He gives lavishly_⌋* to the needy; his righteousness endures forever. His horn rises high in honor.

¹⁶⁵ Great peace is for those who love your law, and they do not have a cause for stumbling.

²⁶ In the fear of Yahweh, there is confidence of strength, and for his children, there will be refuge.

³ many peoples shall come. And they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house* of the God of Jacob, and may he teach us part of his ways, and let us walk in his paths." For instruction shall go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. ⁴ He shall judge between the nations and he shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, and they shall not learn war again.

⁷ _⌊His dominion will grow continually, and to peace there will be no end_⌋* on* the throne of David and over* his kingdom, to establish it* and sustain it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.

⁶ And a wolf shall _⌊stay_⌋* with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together _⌊as a small boy leads_⌋* them. ⁷ And a cow and a bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together. And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle. ⁸ And _⌊an infant_⌋* shall play over a serpent's hole, and _⌊a toddler_⌋* shall put his hand on a viper's hole. ⁹ They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my _⌊holy mountain_⌋,* for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.

¹³ And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.

³ You will protect a firm inclination in peace, in peace because he trusts in you.

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,

¹⁸ O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!
Then* your prosperity would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹³ And all your children shall be pupils of Yahweh, and the peace of your children shall be great. ¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established.
Be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹² For you shall go out in joy, and you shall be led in peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, rejoicing and all the trees of the field shall clap hands.*

¹⁹ creating fruit of lips. Peace, peace to the far and near," says Yahweh, "and I will heal him.

¹² For thus says Yahweh:
"Look! I am about to spread prosperity out to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you shall suck and be carried on the hip; and you shall you shall be played with on the knees.

²¹ And speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am taking the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from among _⌊the nations to which they went_⌋,* and I will gather them from _⌊everywhere_⌋,* and I will bring them to their own soil. ²² And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and _⌊they will all have one king as their king_⌋,* and they* will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again.

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_⌋.*

³ And he will judge between many peoples and will arbitrate for strong nations far away; and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up a sword against a nation, and they will no longer learn war. 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.

¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹² For our reason for boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, in holiness* and purity of motive from God, not* in merely human wisdom, but by the grace of God.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds* in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things. ⁹ And the things which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹¹ And we desire each one of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end,

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy, ¹⁸ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among* those who make peace.

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be zealous even more to make your calling and election secure, because if you* do these things, you will never ever stumble. ¹¹ For in this way entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied for you.

¹⁸ Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ By this* we know that we are of the truth and will convince our heart before him, ²⁰ that* if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ²¹ Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, ²² and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing _⌊in his sight_⌋*. ²³ And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as _⌊he commanded us_⌋*. ²⁴ And the one who keeps his commandments resides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he resides in us: by the Spirit whom he has given to us.

¹⁷ By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, so also are we in this world.

²⁰ Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed settlement, a tent _⌊that is not moved_⌋.* No one will ever pull out its tent pegs, and none of its ropes will be torn in two. ²¹ Rather, there Yahweh will be mighty for us, a place of rivers and _⌊broad streams_⌋,* a galley ship with* oars* cannot go in it, and a mighty ship cannot pass through it. ²² For Yahweh is our judge; Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king; he is the one who will save us.

⁹ No lion shall be there, and no ferocious wild beast shall go up it. It shall not be found there, but* the redeemed shall walk there. ¹⁰ And the ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and they shall come to Zion with rejoicing. And everlasting joy shall be on their head; joy and gladness shall overtake them, and sorrow and sighing shall flee.

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.

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." '

²⁵ And I will make them a covenant of peace, and I will put an end to wild animals* from the land, and they will dwell in the desert _⌊safely_⌋,* and they will sleep in the forest. ²⁶ And I will make them and the area all around my hill a blessing, and I will let the rain go down _⌊at its appointed time_⌋;* they will be rains of blessing.

¹⁸ I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the animals* of the field, with the birds* of the heaven, and with the creeping things* of the ground; the bow, the sword, and the war I will abolish from the land, and I will let them lie down in safety. ¹⁹ And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ²⁰ _⌊I will take you as my wife_⌋* in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh. ²¹ On that day I will answer, _⌊declares Yahweh_⌋,* I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth. ²² And the earth will answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel.* ²³ I will sow her for myself in the land; I will have pity on Lo-ruhama;* I will say to Lo-ammi,* "You are my people," and he himself will say, "you are my God."

⁵ And I will be for it a wall of fire all around,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will be the glory in its midst.'"

⁸ For thus said Yahweh of hosts, after glory* he sent me against the nations plundering you: Truly, the one touching you is touching the apple* of his eye.

⁹ Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

¹⁶ And we have come to know and have believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

¹⁸ Look, about this time tomorrow, I am going to cause very severe* hail to rain, the like of which has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹ And now send word; bring into safety your livestock and all that belongs to you in the field. The hail will come down on every human and animal that is found in the field and not gathered into the house, and they will die." '" ²⁰ Anyone from the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of Yahweh caused his servants and livestock to flee to the houses. ²¹ But whoever did not _⌊give regard to_⌋* the word of Yahweh abandoned his servants and his livestock in the field. ²² And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand to the heavens, and let there be hail in all the land of Egypt, on human and on animal and on all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt." ²³ And Moses stretched out his staff to the heavens, and Yahweh gave thunder* and hail, and fire went to the earth, and Yahweh caused hail to rain on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ And there was hail, and fire was flashing back and forth in the midst of the very severe hail, the like of which was not in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵ And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from human to animal, and the hail struck all the vegetation of the field and smashed every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were, there was no hail.

¹⁹ And the rest of the trees* of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them down.

²² "And I will rise up against them,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts,
"and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon, and offspring and posterity,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²³ "And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.

⁵ For he has thrown down the inhabitants of the height, he lays low the lofty city. He lays it low to the ground; he throws her to the dust.

² Look! The Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a rainstorm of hail, a wind storm of destruction, like a rainstorm of mighty overflowing waters, he will put them to the earth with his hand.

³⁰ And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones* of hail.

²⁴ By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots,* I myself have gone up the height of the mountains, to the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off _⌊its tall cedars_⌋,* the choicest of its junipers. And I came to the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard.*

¹¹ Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be _⌊a torrent of rain_⌋,* and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! * And a _⌊windstorm_⌋* will burst forth! ¹² And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?' ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And so I will let burst forth a _⌊windstorm_⌋* in my rage, and _⌊there will be a torrent of rain_⌋* in my anger, and hailstones in my rage _⌊for complete destruction_⌋.*

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

⁸ But with a rushing torrent he will bring Nineveh to an end; he will chase his enemies into darkness.

¹⁰ Emptiness and plundering and devastation! Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,* _⌊All their loins shake_⌋* and all their faces _⌊turn_⌋* pale. ¹¹ Where now is the den of the lions and the cave of the fierce lions? There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once _⌊prowled_⌋,* _⌊and no one disturbed them_⌋.* ¹² The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs, he strangled prey for his lioness; he filled _⌊his lair_⌋* with prey and his den with mangled carcass. ¹³ "Look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts. "I will burn her chariots _⌊with fire_⌋;* the sword will devour fierce lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth; the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."

² Wail, O juniper,* for the cedar has fallen, for the magnificent trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down!

²⁵ And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock.

⁷ And the first blew the trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

²¹ And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
"In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again!

¹ Send out your bread on the water, for in many days you will find it.

⁵ And the waters will be dried up from the sea, and the river will be parched and dry. ⁶ And the rivers will become foul-smelling; the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up; reed and rush will wither. ⁷ Bare places by the Nile will be dried up, by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile; it will be driven about, and _⌊it will be no more_⌋.*

²³ And he will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and _⌊fertile_⌋.* On that day, your cattle will graze in broad pastures;* ²⁴ and the oxen and the donkeys that till* the ground will eat fodder, sorrel that has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

¹⁰ For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and they do not return there except they have watered the earth thoroughly and cause it to bring forth and sprout, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me without success, but shall accomplish* what I desire and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.

⁴¹ So those who accepted his message were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added.

⁴ But many of those who listened to the message believed, and the number of the men was approximately five thousand.

¹⁴ And even more believers in the Lord* were being added, large numbers of both men and women,

⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing it to grow.

⁹ For in the law of Moses it is written, "You must not muzzle an ox while it* is threshing."* It is not about oxen God is concerned, is it?* ¹⁰ Or doubtless does he speak _⌊for our sake_⌋*? For it is written _⌊for our sake_⌋*, because the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes ought to do so in hope of a share. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing if we reap material things from you?

¹⁸ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among* those who make peace.