Isaiah 8 Cross References - LEB

¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a common stylus pen: Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. ² And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah." ³ And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahweh said to me, "Call his name Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. ⁴ For before the boy knows to call 'my father' and 'my mother,' one will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria." ⁵ And Yahweh continued to speak to me again, saying, ⁶ "Because this people has refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore look! The Lord is bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory.
And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks. 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." ⁹ Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed. And listen, all distant parts of the earth; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed! 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. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble among them, and they shall fall and they shall be broken, and they shall be ensnared and they shall be caught." ¹⁶ Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. ¹⁷ And I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him. ¹⁸ Look! I and the children whom Yahweh has given to me are like signs and portents in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, the one who dwells on the mountain of Zion. ¹⁹ Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living, ²⁰ for teaching and for testimony?" _⌊surely they who speak like this have no dawn_⌋.* ²¹ And it* will pass through it* distressed and hungry, and this shall happen: when it is hungry, it will be enraged, and it will curse its king and its gods,* and it will face upwar ²² or look to the earth. But look! Distress and darkness, the gloom of affliction! And it will be thrust into darkness!

²³ "_⌊O that_⌋* my words could be written down! _⌊O that they could be inscribed in a scroll_⌋!* ²⁴ That with a pen of iron and with lead they might be engraved on a rock forever!

³ And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahweh said to me, "Call his name Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz.

⁸ Now go, write it on a tablet with them, and inscribe it on a scroll, _⌊that_⌋* it may be _⌊for the time to come_⌋,* forever, forever.

² "Take for yourself _⌊a scroll_⌋* and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day.

²⁸ "_⌊Take again_⌋* for yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, has burned.

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the secretary, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and furthermore was added to them many words like these.

² Then Yahweh answered me and said, "Write the vision and make it plain on the tablet so that _⌊it might be read quickly_⌋.* ³ For there is yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.

¹⁸ Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number,* and his number is six hundred sixty-six.*

¹⁷ And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits* _⌊according to human measure_⌋*, which is the angel's.

² And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.

¹⁰ And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his birth place. You are witnesses today." ¹¹ And all of the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who _⌊together_⌋* built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

¹⁰ So King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria in Damascus, and he saw the altar which was in Damascus, so King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the builder's plan of the altar and the _⌊exact model of how it had been made_⌋.* ¹¹ So Uriah the priest built the altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus; thus Uriah the priest did before King Ahaz came from Damascus.

¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, "On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the grain offering of the evening, the burnt offering of the king and his grain offering, the burnt offering of all of the people of the land, their offerings, their libations, and all of the blood of the burnt offerings, the blood of the sacrifices you must dash on it. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by." ¹⁶ So Uriah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

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.

¹ This is the third time I am coming to you. _⌊By the testimony_⌋* of two or three witnesses every word* will be established.

⁴ Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging* Israel.

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her,

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? 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.'

³ So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. ⁴ And Yahweh said to him, "_⌊Name him_⌋* Jezreel;* because in a little while _⌊I will punish_⌋* the house of Jehu* for the blood* of Jezreel,* and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.* ⁵ _⌊On that day_⌋* I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel." ⁶ And she conceived again and bore a daughter, and he* said to him,
"_⌊Name her_⌋* Lo-ruhamah,* for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or _⌊forgive them_⌋.* ⁷ But I will have pity on the house of Judah and I will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen. ⁸ And when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah,* she conceived and bore a son. ⁹ And he* said, "_⌊Name him_⌋* Lo-ammi,* for you are not my people and I am not your God.*

³⁹ And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves* go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, the Gilead, the Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali; then he deported them to Assyria.

⁹ So the king of Assyria listened to him and he went up to Damascus and captured it and deported them to Kir. He also killed Rezin.

³ Shalmaneser the king of Assyria* came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him.

⁵ So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁸ For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. ⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe then you will not endure." '"

¹⁵ He shall eat curds and honey until he knows to reject the evil and to choose the good. ¹⁶ For before the boy knows to reject the evil and to choose the good, _⌊the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned._⌋*

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. ⁷ But he does not think this,* and his heart does not plan this. For it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off not a few nations. ⁸ For he says, "Are not my commanders altogether kings? ⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols* —and their images were _⌊greater than those of_⌋* Jerusalem and Samaria— ¹¹ shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I have done to Samaria and her idols?" ¹² And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* and Jerusalem, "I will punish the _⌊arrogance_⌋* of the king of Assyria and _⌊his haughtiness_⌋."* ¹³ For he says,
"I have done it by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down _⌊the inhabitants_⌋.* ¹⁴ And my hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And there was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp."

³ And the fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.

¹¹ And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, _⌊in which there are_⌋* more _⌊than one hundred and twenty thousand_⌋* people who do not know right from left,* plus many animals?"

¹¹ for although they* had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain,

¹⁰ And Yahweh continued to speak to Ahaz, saying,

¹⁶ "So then, if you have acted in good faith* and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerub-Baal and his house, and have dealt with him _⌊according to his accomplishments_⌋*— ¹⁷ for my father fought and _⌊risked his life_⌋* for you and delivered you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ but today you have risen against the house of my father and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, a king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your relative*— ¹⁹ if you have acted in good faith* and sincerity with Jerub-Baal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and let it devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo; and let a fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-Millo, and let it devour Abimelech."

¹⁶ He made two capitals to place on the tops of the pillars out of molten bronze; the first capital was five cubits in height, and the second capital was five cubits in height.

⁸ So now you yourselves are considering that you are strong before the kingdom of Yahweh which is in the hand the sons of David, since you yourselves are a great multitude and you have bull calves of gold that Jeroboam has made for idols. ⁹ Did you not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, the Levites? Have you not made for yourselves priests like all the peoples of the lands? All who come _⌊to be consecrated for priestly service_⌋* with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what is not a god. ¹⁰ But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests serving Yahweh are the sons of Aaron, the Levites, according to their service. ¹¹ They offer burnt offerings to Yahweh _⌊every morning_⌋* and _⌊every evening_⌋,* sweet spices of incense, and the rows of bread upon the pure table. And the golden lampstand with its lamps they keep kindled _⌊every evening_⌋,* for we are keeping the requirement of Yahweh our God, but you yourselves have forsaken him. ¹² And look, God is with us at the head, and his priests have the trumpets for sounding blasts against you, O sons of Israel. Do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* for you will not succeed." ¹³ Then Jeroboam sent around an ambush to come behind them. So they were in front of Judah, but the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned, then behold, the battle against them was in front and behind, and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew on the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah shouted, and it happened that when the men of Judah were shouting, then God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* fled from before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ And Abijah and his people struck a great blow against them, and the dead from Israel that fell were five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were subdued at that time, and the people* of Judah were victorious, for they relied upon Yahweh the God of their ancestors.*

¹⁵ Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.

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.

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

⁶ "Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, _⌊and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves_⌋,* and let us install the son of Tabeel as king in her midst."

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.

¹⁸ And now _⌊why do you go_⌋* the way of Egypt to drink the waters of the Shihor? And _⌊why do you go_⌋* the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the _⌊Euphrates_⌋?*

¹⁴ Does the snow of Lebanon leave from the crags* of Sirion? Or are the cold waters flowing from distant mountains dried up?

⁷ And he said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated "sent"). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

¹⁷ And I, behold, I am about to bring the flood waters over the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heaven;* everything that is on the earth shall perish.

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.

³ Shalmaneser the king of Assyria* came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as he had year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him in a house of imprisonment.

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.

¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the rest of the province Beyond the River) and now

⁸ And may he rule from sea up to sea, and from the River* to the edges of the land.

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.* ² When it was reported to the house of David, saying "Aram stands by Ephraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the trees of the forest because of the wind. ³ Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the washer's field. ⁴ And you must say to him, 'Take heed and be quiet! You must not fear, and your heart must not be faint because of these two stumps of smoldering firebrands, _⌊because of the fierce anger of_⌋* Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Aram has plotted evil against you with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ⁶ "Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, _⌊and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves_⌋,* and let us install the son of Tabeel as king in her midst."

¹⁷ "Yahweh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your ancestor* days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Judah: the king of Assyria."

²⁰ On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond the river—with the king of Assyria—and it will even take off the beard.

¹² Ah! The noise of many peoples, they make a noise like the noise of the seas! And the roar of nations, they roar like the roar of mighty waters! ¹³ The nations roar like the roar of many waters, but he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away. And they are chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind and like tumbleweed before the storm.

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.

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.

⁷ Who is this that rises like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters surge? ⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile, even like the rivers whose waters surge. And he says, "Let me rise, let me cover the earth, let me destroy cities, and the inhabitants in them."

³ Look! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches* and a forest giving shade, and _⌊very high_⌋,* and its treetop was between the clouds. 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.

²⁶ "And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one* shall be cut off, and _⌊he shall have nothing_⌋,* and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,* and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined.

¹⁰ "But his sons will wage war and they will gather a multitude of great forces and _⌊he will advance with great force_⌋,* and he will overflow like a flood and he will pass through and he will return, and they will wage war up to his fortress.

²² And _⌊before him_⌋* _⌊mighty military forces_⌋* will be utterly swept away, and they will be broken, and also the leader of the covenant.

⁸ On account of this, will not the land tremble and will not every living thing in it mourn? And all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt.

⁵ And thus will do the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like the Nile of Egypt,

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

⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when* a flood came, the river burst against that house and was not able to shake it, because it had been built well.

¹⁵ And from his mouth the serpent spouted water like a river after the woman, in order that he could make her swept away by a river. ¹⁶ And the earth came to the aid of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spouted out of his mouth.

¹⁵ And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages.

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.'

²⁸ He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Micmash he deposited his baggage. ²⁹ They crossed over the pass; Geba is a place of overnight lodging for us. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. ³⁰ Daughter of Gallim, cry out with your voice; Laishah, listen! _⌊Anathoth is poor_⌋.* ³¹ Madmenah flees! The inhabitants of Gebim bring themselves into safety! 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.

¹ The oracle of the valley of vision:
_⌊What business do you have going_⌋* up, all of you, to the roofs, ² _⌊noisy_⌋,* tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain by the sword, nor are they dead from battle. ³ All of your rulers have fled together without a bow; all of _⌊you who were found_⌋* were captured. They were captured together; they had fled far away. 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.* ⁶ And Elam lifted up the quiver, with chariots* of men* and cavalry. And Kir uncovered the shield. ⁷ And this happened:
the choicest of your valleys were full of chariots,* and the cavalry confidently stood at the gate.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery, rulers of these people in Jerusalem: ¹⁵ Because you have said,
"We have _⌊made_⌋* a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol.
The overwhelming flood, when it passes through, will not come to us,
for we have made lies* our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves in falsehood." ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:
"Look! I am laying a stone in Zion, a _⌊tested_⌋* stone, a precious cornerstone, a founded foundation:
'The one who trusts will not _⌊panic_⌋.'* 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 your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; you will become a trampling place for the overwhelming flood when it passes through. ¹⁹ _⌊As often as it passes through_⌋,* it will take you, for _⌊morning by morning_⌋* it will pass through, in the day and in the night,
and understanding the message will be only terror." ²⁰ For the bed is too short _⌊to stretch out on_⌋,* and the covering is too narrow when wrapping oneself. ²¹ For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount Perazim; he will rave as in the valley at Gibeon to do his deed—his deed is strange— and to work his work—his work is alien! ²² And now you must not scoff, or your bonds will be strong,
for I have heard from the Lord, Yahweh of hosts:
complete destruction decreed upon all the land.

¹ Ah! Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!
Add year to year, let festivals recur. ² Yet* I will inflict Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.* ³ And I will encamp _⌊in a circle_⌋* against you, and I will lay siege to you with towers* and I will raise up siegeworks against you. ⁴ Then* you shall be low; you shall speak from the earth, and your words* will be low, from dust. And your voice will be from the earth, like a ghost, and your word will whisper from the dust. ⁵ But* the multitude of your strangers shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of tyrants like chaff that passes by.
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly. ⁶ You will be punished by Yahweh of hosts
with thunder and earthquake and great sound, storm wind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire. ⁷ And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight against her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. ⁸ And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams—look, he is eating! And he wakes up and his inner self is empty. Or* as when the thirsty person dreams—look, he is drinking! And he wakes up and look, he is faint, and his inner self is longing for water. So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion. ⁹ Be astonished and be amazed! Blind yourselves and be blinded! They are drunk but* not from wine; they stagger but* not from strong drink.

²⁸ And his breath is like an overflowing river; it reaches up to the neck to shake the nations with the sieve of worthlessness; and a bridle that leads astray is on the jawbones of the peoples.

¹ And this happened: In _⌊the fourteenth year_⌋* of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he captured them. ² And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh* from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a large army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the field of the washer. ³ And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who _⌊was in charge of the palace_⌋,* came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder. ⁴ And Rabshakeh said to them, "Now say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What is this confidence in which you trust? ⁵ I said, 'Only a word of lips! _⌊War has power and a plan_⌋!'* Now, in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? ⁶ Look, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man leans on it, goes into his hand and bores through it! Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all those who trust in him. ⁷ And if you say to me, 'We trust in Yahweh our God,' was it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? And he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall bow down in the _⌊presence_⌋* of this altar.'" ⁸ And now please make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, that is, if you are able _⌊put_⌋* riders for yourself on them! ⁹ But how can you drive back _⌊one governor among the least of my master's servants_⌋,* when* you trust in Egypt for chariots* and horsemen? ¹⁰ And now was it without Yahweh that I have come up against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, "Go up against this land and destroy it!" '" ¹¹ And Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we can understand* it, and you must not speak to us in Judean in the _⌊hearing_⌋* of the people who are on the wall." ¹² But* Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your masters and you? Was it not for the people who sit on the wall, to eat their dung and drink their urine* with you?" ¹³ Then* Rabshakeh stood and called in a great voice in Judean and said, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ¹⁴ Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you! ¹⁵ And do not let Hezekiah make you rely on Yahweh, saying, "Surely Yahweh will deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ¹⁶ You must not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: "Make a blessing* with me, and come out to me, and each one will eat from his vine and from his fig tree and drink water from* his cistern, ¹⁷ until _⌊I come_⌋* and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, ¹⁸ lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, 'Yahweh will save us!' Did the gods of the nations each save his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ²⁰ Who are there among all the gods of these countries who have saved their land from my hand, that Yahweh should save Jerusalem from my hand?" '" ²¹ But* they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, "You must not answer him." ²² Then* Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the _⌊palace_⌋,* Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder, came to Hezekiah with torn garments and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

³ and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊The great eagle with great wings and long feathers_⌋* and _⌊full of variegated plumage_⌋* came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar.

²³ "Behold, the virgin _⌊will become pregnant_⌋* and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel,"*
which is translated, "God with us."*

¹¹ The king of Israel answered and said, "Tell him, 'Let not him who girds on his armor boast as one who takes off his armor.'"

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow to throw down the poor and the needy, to kill those upright in their way. ¹⁵ Their sword will enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

²¹ _⌊Rest assured_⌋,* the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring* of the righteous will escape.

⁵ Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled the nations in anger _⌊with unrestrained persecution_⌋.*

¹³ And to them the word of Yahweh will be
blah-blah upon blah-blah blah-blah upon blah-blah gah-gah upon gah-gah gah-gah upon gah-gah,* a little here, a little there, so that they may go and stumble backward and be broken and ensnared and captured.

³⁶ And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When* they rose in the morning, look! All of them were dead corpses.

¹⁵ If indeed one attacks, it is not from me; whoever attacks you shall fall because of you.

⁹ Go up, O horses, and drive madly, O chariots,* and let the warriors go forth; Cush and Put, who wield the small shield, and Lud, who wield and bend the bow. ¹⁰ For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts a day of retribution, to take revenge on his foes. And the sword will devour and be satisfied, and it will drink its fill of their blood, for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the north by the Euphrates River. ¹¹ Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin of the daughter of Egypt. _⌊In vain_⌋* you make use of many medicines; there is no healing for you.

⁹ And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud _⌊covering_⌋* the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you." ¹⁰ " 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊And then_⌋* on that day, things* will come up on* your mind, and you will devise evil plans. ¹¹ And you will say, 'I will go up against a land of open country; I will come* to the people being at rest _⌊in safety_⌋,* all of them dwelling without a wall* and crossbars* and _⌊without doors_⌋,* ¹² to* loot loot,* and to plunder* plunder, _⌊to assail_⌋* inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples and who are acquiring livestock and goods and dwelling at the center of the world. ¹³ Sheba and Dedan and traders of Tarshish and all its strong lions,* they will ask you, 'To* loot loot* are you coming? To plunder* plunder have you summoned your assembly, to take away silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to loot great amounts* of loot?" ' ¹⁴ "Therefore prophesy, son of man,* and you must say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will you not realize* on that day when my people Israel are dwelling _⌊in safety_⌋,* ¹⁵ and so you will come from your place, from the remote areas of the north, you and many people with you, _⌊horsemen_⌋* all of them, a great crowd and a vast army, ¹⁶ and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud _⌊covering_⌋* the land; it will be* in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, _⌊when I show myself holy through you_⌋ before their eyes, O Gog!" ' ¹⁷ "Thus says the Lord Yahweh, 'Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel who were prophesying in those days for years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸ And so then in that day, on the day of the coming of God against the land of Israel,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'my rage will come up in my anger. ¹⁹ And in my passion, in the fire of my wrath, I spoke* that _⌊certainly_⌋* on that day a great earthquake will be on the land of Israel. ²⁰ And the fish of the sea and the birds* of the heaven* and the animals* of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans* who are on the surface of the earth will shake _⌊at my presence_⌋;* and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on* the earth will fall. ²¹ And I will call against him* in all of my mountains a sword,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'And the sword of each person will be against his brother. ²² And I will execute justice with* him with a plague and with blood and _⌊torrents of rain_⌋,* and hailstones; fire and sulfur I will cause to fall on him and on his troops and on many peoples who are with him. ²³ And so I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.'"

³⁴ You were looking on _⌊until_⌋* a stone was chiseled out*—that not by hands—and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold _⌊all at once_⌋* broke into pieces* and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away and any trace of them could not be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and it filled the whole earth.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations: _⌊Prepare for war_⌋!* Stir up the mighty warriors; let them approach and come up; let all the men of war approach. ¹⁰ Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, 'I am a mighty warrior!' ¹¹ Hurry and come, all the nations, from all around, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh! ¹² Let the nations be roused and let them come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around. ¹³ Send forth the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Go tread, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow, because their evil is great! ¹⁴ Commotion, commotion in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision!

¹¹ And now, many nations are gathered against you who are saying, 'Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.' ¹² But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh, and they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to his threshing floor. ¹³ Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make as iron and your hooves as bronze. And you will break many peoples in pieces, and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh, and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."

¹ Look! A day is coming for Yahweh, when your plunder will be divided in your midst. ² I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, like _⌊when he fights_⌋* on a day of battle.

¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 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."

⁸ and he will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for battle, _⌊whose number_⌋* is like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the fortified camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

¹ "If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a horse and a chariot, _⌊an army_⌋* larger that you, you shall not be afraid because of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, the one who brought you from the land of Egypt.

⁵ No one will stand before you* all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you, and I will not forsake you.

³¹ Now David was told, "Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom." Then David said, "Please frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel, O Yahweh."

⁴ The word was right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. _⌊After he set his house in order_⌋,* he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.*

¹² And look, God is with us at the head, and his priests have the trumpets for sounding blasts against you, O sons of Israel. Do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* for you will not succeed."

⁷ And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. ⁸ And I will _⌊never_⌋* remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors,* if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses."

¹² He is frustrating the devices of the crafty, and their hands do not achieve success.

¹ Why are nations in tumult, and countries plotting* in vain?* ² The kings of the earth establish themselves, and the rulers conspire* together against Yahweh and his anointed:

¹⁰ Yahweh brings to nothing* the plan of nations; he frustrates* the intents of peoples. ¹¹ The plan of Yahweh stands firm forever, the intents of his heart _⌊from one generation to the next_⌋.*

¹ For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.*
God is our refuge and strength, a very sufficient help in troubles.

⁷ Yahweh of hosts is with us; our high stronghold is the God of Jacob. Selah

¹¹ Yahweh of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high stronghold.

³ They devise cunning schemes* against your people, and consult together against your protected ones.* ⁴ They say, "Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation, so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more." ⁵ For they have consulted together _⌊with a unified purpose_⌋.* They have made a covenant against you: ⁶ the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, ⁷ Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre. ⁸ Assyria also has joined with them. They _⌊provide help_⌋* to the children of Lot. Selah ⁹ Do to them as you did with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon. ¹⁰ They were destroyed at En-dor; they became dung for the ground. ¹¹ Make their leaders like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna, ¹² who said, "Let us take as our possession the pastures of God." ¹³ O my God, make them like the tumbleweed, like the chaff before wind. ¹⁴ As fire burns a forest, and as a flame sets afire mountains, ¹⁵ so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. ¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Yahweh. ¹⁷ Let them be ashamed and terrified forever, and let them be humiliated and perish ¹⁸ that they may know that you, whose name is Yahweh, you alone, are the Most High over the whole earth.

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

⁵ Because Aram has plotted evil against you with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ⁶ "Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, _⌊and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves_⌋,* and let us install the son of Tabeel as king in her midst." ⁷ Thus says the Lord Yahweh, "It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.

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."

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.

¹⁰ You must not fear, for I am with you; you must not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you, indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation.

³⁷ _⌊Who can speak_⌋* and it will happen if the Lord has not commanded it?

⁹ What* do you plot against Yahweh? _⌊He will completely destroy it_⌋;* trouble will not rise up a second time! ¹⁰ For like entangled thorns, and like their drink which is drunk, they will be consumed like fully dry chaff. ¹¹ From you goes out one who plots evil against Yahweh, one who plans wickedness. ¹² Yahweh says this:
"Even though they are powerful and likewise many, even so they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you,* I will afflict you* no longer.

²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age."

³⁸ And now I tell you, keep away from these men, and leave them alone, because if this plan or this matter is from people, it will be overthrown.* ³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you even be found fighting against God." So they were persuaded by him.

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

³¹ What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁴ You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

⁸ I* will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will advise you with my eye upon you.

¹⁵ My child, do not walk in their way.* Keep your foot from their paths,

¹⁹ Therefore thus says Yahweh,
"If you turn back, then I will take you back. You will stand _⌊before me_⌋.* And if you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you will be as my mouth. They will turn back to you, and you will not turn back to them.

⁷ You have persuaded me, O Yahweh, and I was persuaded. You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long. _⌊Everyone_⌋* is mocking me.

⁹ But if I say, "I will not mention him and I will no longer speak in his name," then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning, locked up in my bones, and I struggle to contain it,* and I am not able.

⁶ And you, son of man,* you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because* briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their _⌊looks_⌋,* for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious. ⁸ And you, son of man,* hear what I am speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you."

¹⁴ And the Spirit lifted me and took me, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me.

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

⁵ Then Rezin the king of Aram went up with Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel against Jerusalem for battle, and they besieged Ahaz but were not able to _⌊defeat_⌋* him. ⁶ At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and drove out the Judeans from Elath. The Arameans came to Elath and have lived there until this day. ⁷ Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who are rising up against me."

⁵ There _⌊they are very fearful_⌋* where no fear had been, because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

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.

¹² "I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that* you are afraid of man? He dies! And of the son of humankind? He is _⌊sacrificed_⌋* as grass! ¹³ And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth. And you tremble continually, all day, because of the wrath of the oppressor when he _⌊takes aim_⌋* to destroy. But* where is the wrath of the oppressor?

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. ¹⁰ You grow weary by the greatness of your way, but you did not say, 'Despairing!' You found the _⌊renewal_⌋* of your _⌊strength_⌋,* therefore you do not grow weak. ¹¹ And of whom were you afraid and feared, that you deceived and did not remember me? Did you not place it on your heart? Have I not been silent, even from long ago, and so you do not fear me?

² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came up and* rolled away the stone and sat down* on it. ³ Now his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And the guards trembled from the fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel answered and* said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

⁴ "And I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after these things do not have anything more to do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: fear the one who has authority, after the killing, to throw you* into hell! Yes, I tell you, fear this one!

⁹ And when you hear about wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be at once."

¹⁴ But even if you might suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their intimidation or be disturbed,* ¹⁵ but set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for an accounting concerning the hope that is in you.

⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father* judge between us." Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

³ Therefore* Moses said to Aaron, "This is what Yahweh spoke, saying, 'Among those who are close to me I will show myself holy, and _⌊in the presence of_⌋* all the people I will display my glory.'"* So* Aaron was silent.

¹² But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy _⌊in the sight of_⌋* the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them." ¹³ Those were the waters of Meribah, where the _⌊Israelites_⌋* quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them.

¹⁴ because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These are the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the desert of Zin.)

⁷ _⌊You, indeed, are to be feared_⌋,* and who can stand before you when you are angry? *

³ You will protect a firm inclination in peace, in peace because he trusts in you. ⁴ Trust in Yahweh forever, for in Yah, Yahweh you have an everlasting rock.

²³ For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will treat my name as holy, and they will treat the holy one of Jacob as holy, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

⁵ "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered* me and stood in awe _⌊before_⌋* my name.

²⁸ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: fear the one who has authority, after the killing, to throw you* into hell! Yes, I tell you, fear this one!

²⁰ And he did not waver in unbelief at the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God

⁴ Who would never fear, Lord, and glorify your name? For only you are holy, because all the nations* will come and worship before you, because your righteous deeds have been revealed."

⁶ He will rain coals* on the wicked. Burning sulfur and scorching wind will be the portion of their cup.

¹ For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.*
God is our refuge and strength, a very sufficient help in troubles. ² Therefore we will not fear though the earth change, and though the mountains totter into the _⌊midst_⌋* of the sea,

²² Let their table before them be a trap, and their times of peace a snare.

¹⁰ A tower of strength is the name of Yahweh; into him* the righteous will run and be safe.

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.

¹⁷ Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, inhabitants* of the earth! ¹⁸ And this shall happen:
The one who flees from the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and the one who goes up from _⌊inside the pit_⌋* shall be caught in the snare, for the windows from heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

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.

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:
"Look! I am laying a stone in Zion, a _⌊tested_⌋* stone, a precious cornerstone, a founded foundation:
'The one who trusts will not _⌊panic_⌋.'*

¹⁶ Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries _⌊to which they have gone_⌋.'"*

⁵⁷ And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and in his own household."

³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed*—

³⁵ like a trap. For it will come upon all who reside on the face of the whole earth.

³² Why that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the _⌊stone that causes people to stumble_⌋*, ³³ just as it is written,
"Behold, I am laying in Zion _⌊a stone that causes people to stumble_⌋*, and _⌊a rock that causes them to fall_⌋*, and the one who believes in him will not be put to shame."*

⁹ And David says,
"Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a cause for stumbling and a retribution to them; ¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see, and cause their backs to bend _⌊continually_⌋*."* ¹¹ I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, did they?* May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.*

³⁵ Or who has given in advance to him, and it will be paid back to him?"*

⁸ and
"A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,"*
who stumble because they* disobey the word to which also they were consigned.

¹⁰ We grope like the blind along a wall, and we grope _⌊as without_⌋* eyes. We stumble at noon as in the twilight; among the strong we are like the dead.

⁶ And whoever is not offended by me is blessed."

¹⁴ Let* them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."

⁴⁴ And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!"

¹⁷ But he looked intently at them and* said, "What then is this that is written:
'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋.'* ¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!"

⁶⁶ For this reason many of his disciples _⌊drew back_⌋* and were not walking with him any longer.

³² Why that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the _⌊stone that causes people to stumble_⌋*,

²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a cause for stumbling, but to the Gentiles foolishness,

⁴⁵ these are the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Moses spoke to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* _⌊when they left Egypt_⌋,*

¹² Then he brought out the son of the king, put the crown on him with the testimony, and they made him king, anointed him, clapped their hands, and said, "Long live the king!"

¹⁴ Intimate fellowship with Yahweh is for those who fear him, and he makes known his covenant to them.

⁸ All sayings of my mouth are in righteousness; none of them are twisted and crooked. ⁹ All of them are straight to him who understands, and upright to those who find knowledge.

¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a common stylus pen: Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. ² And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah."

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

¹¹ And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. When they give it to one who knows the* document, saying, "_⌊Read_⌋* this now!" He says, "I am not able, for it is sealed." ¹² And if the document is given to one who does not _⌊know how to read_⌋,* saying, "_⌊Read_⌋* this now!" he says, "I do not _⌊know how to read_⌋."*

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

²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.*

⁴ But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the scroll* until the time of the end; many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase."

⁹ And he said, "Go, Daniel, for the words are secret and are sealed up until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many will be purified and will be cleansed and will be refined, but the wicked will act wickedly _⌊and none of the wicked will understand_⌋,* but _⌊those who have insight_⌋* will understand.

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.

¹⁰ And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking* him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, "To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables,

³⁴ And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

¹⁰ And in the house again the disciples began to ask* him about this.

³² What he has seen and heard, this he testifies, and no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The one who accepts his testimony has attested that God is true.

¹⁴ But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

⁵ And Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony to the things that would be spoken,

⁹ If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. ¹⁰ (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) ¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

¹⁷ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give to him some of the hidden manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

¹ And I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

⁵ And one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

⁴ And when the seven thunders spoke,* I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them!"

¹⁰ And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he said to me, "_⌊Do not do that!_⌋* I am a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

¹⁸ I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.

¹⁷ And _⌊my anger shall flare up against them_⌋* on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they* shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find* them,* and they* shall say on that day, 'Is it not because our* God is not in our* midst that these disasters have found* us?'* ¹⁸ But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because of all of the evil that they* did because they* turned to other gods.

²⁰ So he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what will be their end, for they are a generation of perversity, _⌊children in whom there is no faithfulness_⌋.*

¹⁴ Wait for Yahweh. Be strong and let your heart show strength, and wait for Yahweh.

²⁰ Our soul waits for Yahweh; he is our help and our shield.

³⁴ Wait for Yahweh and keep his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

⁷ And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is for you.

¹ For the music director. Of David. A psalm.*
I waited patiently for Yahweh, And he inclined to me and heard my cry for help.

⁵ I await Yahweh; my soul awaits, and I wait* for his word.

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.

⁹ And one will say, on that day,
"Look! This is our God! We have waited for him and he saved us! This is Yahweh; we waited for him! Let us be glad, and let us rejoice in his salvation."

⁸ Surely we wait for you in the path of your judgments, Yahweh, for your name and renown are the desire of the soul.

² Yahweh, be gracious to us, we wait for you. Be our* arm in the mornings, indeed our salvation in the time of trouble.

¹⁰ Who among you is in fear of Yahweh, obeys* the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light, trusts in the name of Yahweh and depends on his God?

⁸ I hid my face from you for a moment, in the flowing of anger, but* I will have compassion on you with everlasting faithfulness" says your redeemer, Yahweh.

² Rather, your iniquities have been _⌊barriers_⌋* between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing.

⁴ And since ancient times they have not heard, have not listened, no eye has seen a God except you; he _⌊acts_⌋* for the one who waits for him.

⁷ And there is no one who calls on your name, who pulls himself up to keep hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us,* and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.

²⁵ Yahweh is good to those who wait on him, to the person that seeks him. ²⁶ It is good to wait in silence for the salvation of Yahweh.

²³ and the nations will know that because of their guilt the house of Israel went into exile, _⌊because_⌋* they acted unfaithfully against me, and I hid my face from them, and I gave them into the hand of their foes, and they fell by the sword, all of them. ²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgression I dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

⁶ But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

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.

⁷ But as for me, I will look to Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

³ For there is yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.

³⁸ And at that same hour she approached and* began to give thanks* to God, and to speak about him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, the one who delivers us from the coming wrath.

⁵ Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and toward the patient endurance of Christ.

²⁸ thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

³⁶ For you have need of endurance, in order that after you* have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ³⁷ For yet
"a very, very little while, and the one who is coming will come and will not delay. ³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul is not well pleased with him."* ³⁹ But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but among those who have faith to the preservation of our souls.

²⁵ For David said, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

¹¹ Sing praises to Yahweh who sits enthroned* in Zion. Tell his deeds among the peoples,

³⁰ Descendants* will serve him. Regarding the Lord, it will be told to the next generation.

⁷ I have become a wonder to many, but you are my strong refuge.

³ Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the washer's field.

¹⁶ For before the boy knows to reject the evil and to choose the good, _⌊the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned._⌋*

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

³² And what will one answer the messengers of the nation?
That Yahweh has founded Zion, and the needy of his people will take refuge in it.

²³ And the full moon will be ashamed and the sun will be ashamed, for Yahweh of hosts will rule on _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* and in Jerusalem, and before his elders in glory.

¹⁰ Yet* Yahweh was pleased to crush him; he _⌊made him sick_⌋.* If she* places* his life a guilt offering,* he will see offspring. He will prolong days, and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand.

⁸ And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to* be a sign and make him into* the subject of proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I am Yahweh.

⁸ Listen, please, O Joshua the high priest, you and your companions* that are sitting _⌊before_⌋* you. For the men are a sign that,* look, I am going to bring my servant the Branch.*

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.'

⁹ For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to people. ¹⁰ We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ Until the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless, ¹² and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are* reviled, we bless; when we are* persecuted, we endure; ¹³ when we are* slandered, we encourage. We have become like the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things, until now.

¹³ And again,
"I will trust in him."*
And again,
"Behold, I and the children God has given me."* ¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these same things, in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

³³ sometimes being publicly exposed both to insults and to afflictions, and sometimes becoming sharers with those who were treated in this way.

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

³¹ " 'You* shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you* shall not seek them to become unclean with them; I am Yahweh your* God.

⁶ As for* the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set* my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

¹¹ or one who casts magic spells, or one who consults a spirit of the dead,* or spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead.*

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

¹¹ So the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me."

¹⁶ Then Samuel said, "Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy?

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

⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

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

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

⁶ And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.

²⁸ They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.*

³ And the spirit of _⌊the Egyptians_⌋* will be disturbed in his midst, and I will _⌊confuse_⌋* his plans,* and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

⁴ Then* you shall be low; you shall speak from the earth, and your words* will be low, from dust. And your voice will be from the earth, like a ghost, and your word will whisper from the dust.

¹⁰ But Yahweh is the true God, he is the living God, and _⌊an everlasting king_⌋.* Because of his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his anger.

⁹ For they themselves report about us, what sort of welcome we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

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

⁷ The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving life.* The testimony of Yahweh is firm, making wise the simple. ⁸ The precepts of Yahweh are right, making the heart rejoice. The command of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.

¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light, giving understanding to the simple.

¹⁸ But the path of the righteous ones is like the light of dawn, leading and shining until the day _⌊is full_⌋.*

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

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.

⁸ Now go, write it on a tablet with them, and inscribe it on a scroll, _⌊that_⌋* it may be _⌊for the time to come_⌋,* forever, forever. ⁹ For it is a people of rebellion, deceitful children, children who are not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh, ¹⁰ who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions, ¹¹ turn aside from the way, turn aside from the path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face."

⁹ The wise will be put to shame, they will be dismayed, and they will get taken. Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, and what is wisdom to them?

³ Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising is sure like the dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like the spring rain that waters the earth.

⁶ Therefore it will be as night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them.

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_⌋.*

²³ But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁹ But Jesus answered and* said to them, "You are mistaken, because* you do not know the scriptures or the power of God!

⁷ And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'* ⁸ Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men." ⁹ And he said to them, "You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep* your tradition.

²⁶ And he said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"*

²⁹ But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they must listen to them.' ³⁰ And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent!' ³¹ But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.'"

³⁹ You search* the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them, and it is these that testify about me.

⁴⁶ For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe that one's writings, how will you believe my words?"

¹¹ Now these were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. _⌊They_⌋* accepted the message with all eagerness, examining the scriptures every day to see if these things were so.

²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news in advance to Abraham: "In you all the nations* will be blessed."* ⁹ So then, the ones who have faith are blessed together with Abraham who believed. ¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them."* ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because "the one who is righteous will live by faith."* ¹² But the law is not from faith, but "the one who does these things will live by them."* ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"* ¹⁴ in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. ¹⁵ Brothers, I am speaking according to a human perspective. Nevertheless, when* the covenant of a man has been ratified, no one declares it invalid or adds additional provisions to it. ¹⁶ Now to Abraham and to his descendant the promises were spoken. It does not say, "and to descendants," as concerning many, but as concerning one, "and to your descendant,"* who is Christ. ¹⁷ Now I am saying this: the law, that came after four hundred and thirty years, does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, in order to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise. ¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the descendant should come to whom it had been promised, having been ordered through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰ Now the mediator is not for one, but God is one. ²¹ Therefore is the law opposed to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, certainly righteousness would have been from the law. ²² But the scripture imprisoned all under sin, in order that the promise could be given by faith* in Jesus Christ to those who believe. ²³ But before faith came, we were detained under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after* faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. ²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,* ²⁷ for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ's, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

²¹ Tell me, you who are wanting to be under the law, do you not understand* the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the female slave and one by the free woman.

¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the holy writings that are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ in order that the person of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

⁹ For the one for whom these things are not present is blind, being nearsighted, _⌊having forgotten the cleansing_⌋* of his former sins.

¹⁹ and we possess as more reliable the prophetic word, to which you do well if you* pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

²⁸ " 'You will not curse God,* and you will not curse a leader among your people.

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_⌋.* ³⁴ You shall become mad _⌊because of what your eyes shall see_⌋.*

⁵³ And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, _⌊during the siege and during the distress_⌋* your enemy inflicts upon you. ⁵⁴ The most refined and the very sensitive* man among you _⌊shall be mean with his brother_⌋* and _⌊against his beloved wife_⌋* and against the rest* of his children that he has left over, ⁵⁵ _⌊by refraining from giving_⌋* to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him _⌊during the siege and distress_⌋* that your enemy inflicts upon you. 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, ⁵⁷ and even concerning her afterbirth _⌊that goes out_⌋* from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret _⌊during the siege and during the distress_⌋* that your enemy inflicts upon her in your _⌊towns_⌋.*

³³ While he was still speaking with them, suddenly the messenger was coming down to him, and he said, "Look this trouble is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?"

³ In the ninth month, the famine became severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land.

¹¹ But,* on the other hand, stretch out* your hand and touch _⌊all that belongs to him_⌋* and see _⌊whether_⌋* he will _⌊curse_⌋* you to your face."

⁵ But stretch out* your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and see _⌊whether_⌋* he will _⌊curse_⌋* you to your face."*

⁹ Then* his wife said to him, "Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? _⌊Curse_⌋* God and die."

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

⁷ therefore look! The Lord is bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory.
And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks. 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."

²⁰ They devoured on the right but still were hungry and devoured on the left but they were not satisfied. Each one devoured the flesh of his arm,

¹⁸ If I go out into the field, then look, those slain by the sword. And if I enter the city, then look, the sickness of the famine. For both prophet and priest wander around through the land, _⌊they do not know what is going on_⌋.'"*

⁶ In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land.

⁴ The tongue of the nursling cleaves to its palate in thirst. Children beg for food, _⌊no one lays it out before them_⌋.* ⁵ The ones who eat delicacies, they are ruined in the streets; the ones nurtured in purple lie on piles of trash.

⁹ Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of famine; they have pined away, very hungry for the crops of my field. ¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their children; they became as something to eat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

²⁰ And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, _⌊in order not to worship_⌋* the demons and the gold and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which are able neither to see nor to hear nor to walk, ²¹ and they did not repent of their murders or of their magic spells or of their sexual immorality or of their thefts.

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.

⁵ And in those times there was no peace for the one going out and the one coming in, for great tumults were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ Nation was crushed by nation, and city was against city, for God threw them into confusion by all sorts of trouble.

¹⁸ "They thrust him from light into darkness, and they drive him out from the world.

³² By his evildoing, the wicked will be overthrown, and the righteous will find refuge in his death.

³⁰ And he will roar over him on that day like the roaring of the sea, and if one looks to the land, look! Darkness! Distress! And the light grows dark with its* clouds.

¹ * _⌊But there will be no gloom for those who were in distress_⌋.*
In former times he* treated the land of Zebulun and Naphtali with contempt, but in the future he will honor the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

¹⁶ Give glory to Yahweh your God _⌊before_⌋* he brings darkness, and _⌊before_⌋* your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom, he makes it* as thick darkness.

¹² "_⌊Therefore_⌋* their way will be to them like the slippery places, they will be pushed in the darkness, and they will fall into it, for I will bring disaster on them in the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁶ Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why do I see every strong man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And why are all their faces changed to paleness? ⁷ Alas! For that day is great, _⌊there is none like it_⌋.* And it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet from it he will be delivered.

¹⁸ Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why is this for you the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light! ¹⁹ It will be as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall and a snake bit him. ²⁰ Is not the day of Yahweh darkness and not light, and pitch dark with no brightness in it?

¹⁴ The great day of Yahweh draws near; it is near and coming very swiftly. The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness; there, a warrior cries out! ¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of disaster and ruination, a day of darkness and deep gloom, a day of clouds* and thick clouds,*

¹² But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"

¹³ Then the king said to the servants, 'Tie him up _⌊hand and foot_⌋* and* throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!'

²⁹ "And immediately after the tribulation of those days,
'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.'*

²⁵ "And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity from the noise of the sea and its surging, ²⁶ people fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.*

¹³ wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.