Jeremiah 23 Cross References - LEB

¹ "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ² _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I will punish you for the evil of your deeds," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³ "Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous. ⁴ And I will raise up over them shepherds, and they will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear, and they will not be dismayed, and they will not be missing," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 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.' ⁷ "_⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from the land of Egypt,' ⁸ but '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.' Then they will live in their land." ⁹ Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken in my midst. All my bones tremble. I have become like a drunken man, even like a man over whom wine has passed, because of Yahweh, and because of _⌊his holy words_⌋.* ¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; for the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the desert* are dry, and their evil has been their way of running, and their power is not right. ¹¹ "For both prophet as well as priest are godless, even in my temple I have found their wickedness," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 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. ¹³ "Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing. They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err. ¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,* and they make strong the hands of evildoers, so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah." ¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets,
"Look, I am going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land." ¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
"You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you with visions of their _⌊mind_⌋,* They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh. ¹⁷ They are* continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, 'Peace it will be to you,' and to _⌊each one_⌋* who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, 'Calamity will not come upon you.' ¹⁸ For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it?* ¹⁹ Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked. ²⁰ The _⌊anger_⌋* of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his _⌊mind_⌋.* _⌊In latter days_⌋* you will look closely at it with understanding. ²¹ I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. ²³ Am I a God from near," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and not a God from far? ²⁴ Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁵ "I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies* have said in my name, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have dreamed! I have dreamed!' ²⁶ _⌊How long_⌋* will this be in the hearts* of the prophets who prophesy lies,* even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,* ²⁷ who plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors* forgot my name through Baal? ²⁸ The prophet who has with him a dream, let him tell the dream. But the prophet* who has my word with him, let him speak my word faithfully. _⌊What is straw compared to wheat_⌋?"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁹ "Is not my word like fire?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and like a blacksmith's hammer that breaks a rock into pieces? ³⁰ "_⌊Therefore_⌋* look, I am against the prophets," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "who steal my words each one from his neighbor. ³¹ Look, I am against the prophets," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "who take their tongues* and declare as prophets, 'Yahweh _⌊declares_⌋.'* ³² Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³³ "Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'What is the burden* of Yahweh?' then you shall say to them, '_⌊You are the burden_⌋,* and I will forsake you,'" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³⁴ "And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden* of Yahweh,' I will punish that man and his house. ³⁵ Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: 'What has Yahweh answered?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?' ³⁶ But you shall not mention the burden* of Yahweh, for the burden* is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you shall say to that prophet, 'What has Yahweh answered you?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?' ³⁸ But if you say, 'The burden* of Yahweh,' _⌊therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'because of your saying these words,* "The burden* of Yahweh," then I will send to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* "You shall not say, 'The burden* of Yahweh.'" ' ³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors* from _⌊my presence_⌋*, ⁴⁰ and I will bring upon you _⌊an everlasting disgrace_⌋* and _⌊an everlasting shame_⌋* that will not be forgotten."

⁹ All wild animals in the field, come, to devour,* all wild animals in the forest! ¹⁰ His watchmen are blind, none of them know. They are all dumb dogs; they are unable to bark, panting, lying down, loving to slumber. ¹¹ And the dogs _⌊have a greedy appetite_⌋;* they _⌊are never satisfied_⌋.* And they are the shepherds! They do not have* understanding. They all turn to their own way, each one for his own gain, _⌊every one of them_⌋.* ¹² "Come, let me take wine, and let us carouse with intoxicating drink, and tomorrow will be like today, _⌊very great indeed_⌋."*

⁸ The priests did not say, 'Where is Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have _⌊rebelled against me_⌋,* and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after things which do not profit.

²⁶ As the shame of a thief when he is caught in the act, so the house of Israel will be ashamed. They, their kings, their officials, and their priests, and their prophets.

²¹ For the shepherds have become stupid, they do not seek Yahweh. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they do not have insight, and all of their flock are scattered.

¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my plot of land. They have made _⌊my pleasant field_⌋* like the desert* of desolation.

²² All your shepherds will shepherd the wind, and your lovers will go into captivity. Yes, then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.

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

¹¹ "For both prophet as well as priest are godless, even in my temple I have found their wickedness," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 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. ¹³ "Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing. They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err. ¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,* and they make strong the hands of evildoers, so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah." ¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets,
"Look, I am going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land."

³⁴ Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. And roll about in mourning in the dust, O leaders* of the flock. For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived, and you will fall like a vessel of desire. ³⁵ And flight will perish from the shepherds, and escape from the leaders* of the flock. ³⁶ A sound, the cry of distress of the shepherds and the wailing of the leaders* of the flock, for Yahweh is despoiling their pasture.

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

³ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, _⌊and they did not see anything_⌋!*

²⁵ The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. ²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. ²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken. ²⁹ They severely oppress the people of the land, and _⌊they committed robbery_⌋,* and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien _⌊without_⌋* justice.

² "Son of man,* prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? ³ The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock. ⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and _⌊with respect to_⌋* the hurt* you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force* and with ruthlessness. ⁵ And they were scattered _⌊without_⌋* a shepherd, and they were* as food for all the animals* of the field when they were scattered. ⁶ My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world* my flock were scattered, and _⌊there was no one seeking them_⌋,* and _⌊there was no one searching for them_⌋."* ⁷ Therefore, hear, O shepherds, the word of Yahweh: ⁸ "_⌊As I live_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, "_⌊Surely_⌋* because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to* all the animals* of the field, since there was not a shepherd, since my shepherds have not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,'" ⁹ therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh, ¹⁰ 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will _⌊no longer_⌋* feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them."

²¹ because with your flank and with your shoulder you shoved, and with your horns you pushed all of the sick animals _⌊until_⌋* you scattered it* to the outside.

³¹ "and you are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are _⌊my people_⌋;* I am your God," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.'"

¹¹ Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "Is not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us." ¹² Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and _⌊the temple mount_⌋* as a high place in a forest.

³ Her officials in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing until the morning. ⁴ Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery; her priests have defiled that which is holy; they do violence to the law.

⁵ The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. ⁶ For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand." ⁷ And I shepherded the flock* doomed to slaughter, even* the afflicted* of the flock.* I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.*

¹⁵ And Yahweh said to me, "Take again the implements* of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,* he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the _⌊fattened ones_⌋* and tear apart even their hoofs. ¹⁷ "Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock!* May a sword fall on his arm and on _⌊his right eye_⌋!* May his arm wither completely and _⌊his right eye_⌋* be utterly blinded!"

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

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

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.*

¹⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you travel around the sea and the dry land to make one convert, and when he becomes one,* you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are! ¹⁶ "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.'* ¹⁷ Fools and blind people! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.'* ¹⁹ Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? ²⁰ Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it. ²¹ And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. ²² And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it. ²³ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you pay a tenth of mint and dill and cumin, and neglect the more important matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness! It was necessary* to do these things _⌊while not neglecting those_⌋.* ²⁴ Blind guides who filter out a gnat and swallow a camel! ²⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence! ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish,* so that the outside of it may become clean also. ²⁷ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean! ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you also appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ²⁹ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,

⁴² "But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also. ⁴³ Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! ⁴⁴ Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over them* do not know it!* ⁴⁵ And one of the legal experts answered and* said to him, "Teacher, when you* say these things, you insult us also!" ⁴⁶ So he said, "Woe to you also, legal experts, because you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers! ⁴⁷ Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! ⁴⁸ As a result you are witnesses, and you approve of the deeds of your fathers, because they killed them and you build their tombs!* ⁴⁹ For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple building.* Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation! ⁵² Woe to you, legal experts, because you have taken away the key to knowledge! You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering!"

¹⁰ The thief _⌊comes only_⌋* so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it* abundantly.

¹² The hired hand, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf approaching and abandons the sheep and runs away—and the wolf seizes them and scatters them*—

³⁴ And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin."

⁹ Because of these things shall I not punish?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?

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

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

²² _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by the famine.

²¹ What will you say when he sets over you— and you have taught them—allies as head over you? Will not labor pains take hold of you, like a woman giving birth?

¹² O house of David, thus says Yahweh,
"Execute judgment in the morning, justice, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and it burns, and there is no one who quenches it* because of the evil of your deeds.

³⁴ "And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden* of Yahweh,' I will punish that man and his house.

¹³ _⌊I will punish her_⌋* for the days of the Baals, to whom she burns incense, and she decked herself with her ornamental ring and jewelry, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me —a declaration of Yahweh.

⁴ The best of them is like a brier; the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come; now their confusion will come.

³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not care for me.'

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.

³ and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and _⌊he will again gather you together_⌋* from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there. ⁴ "Even if _⌊you are outcasts_⌋* at the end of the heavens, even from there Yahweh your God shall gather you, and from there _⌊he shall bring you back_⌋.* ⁵ And Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors* had taken possession of,* and he will make you successful, and he will make you more numerous than your ancestors.*

⁴⁷ Save us, O Yahweh our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to your holy name and boast in your praise.

¹¹ And this shall happen on that day:
The Lord will again extend his hand a second time to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea, ¹² and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four _⌊corners_⌋* of the earth. 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. ¹⁴ But they shall _⌊swoop_⌋* upon the Philistine shoulder,* _⌊westward_⌋.* Together they shall plunder the sons of the east. Edom and Moab _⌊will be under their command_⌋,* and the sons of Ammon will be their subjugated people. ¹⁵ And Yahweh will divide* the tongue* of the sea of Egypt,* and he will wave his hand over the river* with his scorching wind; and he will strike it into seven streams, and he will _⌊make it passable by foot_⌋.* ¹⁶ So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains, as there was for Israel _⌊when_⌋* it went up from the land of Egypt.

¹² And this shall happen:
on that day, Yahweh will thresh from the floodwaters of the Euphrates to the wadi* of Egypt, and as for you, you will be gathered one by one, sons of Israel. ¹³ And this shall happen:
on that day, a great trumpet will be blown,
and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt,
and they will bow down to Yahweh on the _⌊holy mountain_⌋* at Jerusalem.

⁵ You must not fear, for I am with you. I will bring your _⌊offspring_⌋* from the east, and I will gather you from the west. ⁶ I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to the south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth—

¹⁴ And I will let myself be found by you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will restore your fortunes,* and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.'

³ For look, days are coming,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'when I will restore the fortunes* of my people Israel and Judah,' says Yahweh, 'and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors* and they will take possession of it.'"

⁸ Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth. Among them the blind, and the lame, those who are pregnant, and those who give birth, together, a great assembly, they will return here.

³⁷ Look, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell _⌊in safety_⌋.*

¹⁷ Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you.

¹¹ " 'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I, even I, will seek my flock, and I will look after them, ¹² just like the caring of a shepherd for his herd on* the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places _⌊to which they were scattered_⌋* on the day _⌊of storm and stress_⌋.* ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in good pasture, and their pasture will be on the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will lie down in good pasture, and on lush pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ _⌊I myself_⌋* will feed my flock and _⌊I myself_⌋* will allow them to lie down," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁶ "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the scattered, and I will bind up the one hurt, and I will strengthen the sick; and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed her with justice." ¹⁷ " 'And you, my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am judging between _⌊one sheep and another_⌋,* between the rams and between the he-goats. ¹⁸ _⌊Is it not enough for you_⌋* that you feed on the good pasture? And still you must trample the remainder of your pasture with your feet, and _⌊clear water_⌋* you drink, and the _⌊leftover water_⌋* you must make muddy with your feet. ¹⁹ And my flock must graze the pasture treaded upon by* your feet, and must drink the mud puddle stirred up by* your feet." ²⁰ " 'Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: "Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep, ²¹ because with your flank and with your shoulder you shoved, and with your horns you pushed all of the sick animals _⌊until_⌋* you scattered it* to the outside. ²² And so I will save my flock, and _⌊they will no longer be_⌋* for plunder, and I will judge between _⌊one sheep and another_⌋.* ²³ And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he will feed them; that is, my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be for them as* a shepherd. ²⁴ And I, Yahweh, I will be for them _⌊as God_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken. 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. ²⁷ And the tree* of the field will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and they will be on their land _⌊safely_⌋,* and they will know that I am Yahweh when I break their yoke, and I will deliver them from the hand of the ones enslaving them. ²⁸ And they will not be any longer plunder to the nations, and the animals of the land will not eat them, and they will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* and there will not be anyone frightening them. ²⁹ And I will raise for them a garden plot* of renown, and they will _⌊no longer_⌋* be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear any more the insult of the nations. ³⁰ And they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them and they are my people, the house of Israel," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, ³¹ "and you are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are _⌊my people_⌋;* I am your God," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.'"

²⁴ " 'And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all of the lands, and I will bring you to your land.

³⁷ "Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Again this time I will let _⌊myself be inquired of_⌋* by the house of Israel, to do something for them; I will cause them to increase _⌊their population like a flock_⌋.*

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. ²³ And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy _⌊by which they sinned_⌋,* and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God. ²⁴ " '"And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. ²⁵ And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, _⌊in which your ancestors dwelled_⌋,* and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children _⌊forever_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader for them _⌊forever_⌋.* ²⁶ And I will make with them a covenant of peace; _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋* it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them _⌊forever_⌋.* ²⁷ And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation.

²⁷ When I restore them from the nations and I gather them from the countries of their enemies, then I will show myself holy through them before the eyes of many nations. ²⁸ And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, because of when I deported them into the nations, and I reassembled them to their soil, and _⌊I will not let any of them remain there any longer_⌋.*

¹⁴ And I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and will drink their wine, and they will make gardens and will eat their fruit. ¹⁵ And I will plant them on their land and they will not be uprooted again from their land that I have given to them," says Yahweh your God.

¹² On that day he will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹⁹ Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors; I will save the lame and gather the outcast. I will change* them from shame to glory and _⌊renown_⌋* throughout the whole world. ²⁰ At that time I will bring you in; at the time of my gathering you together. For I will make you _⌊renowned_⌋* and praised among all the nations of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says Yahweh.

⁸ I will whistle to them and gather them, for I have redeemed them, and they will become numerous as they have been numerous before. ⁹ Though I sow* them among the nations, in the distant places they will remember me, and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return. ¹⁰ And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and from Assyria I will gather them. To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them, until no room will be found for them there. ¹¹ And he* will pass through the sea of distress, and he will strike the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought low, and the scepter of Egypt will depart. ¹² I will make them strong in Yahweh, and in his name they will walk, _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁴⁹ and they said to Moses, "Your servants have _⌊taken count_⌋* of the men of war who were _⌊in our charge_⌋,* and no man is missing from us.

⁷⁰ And he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds. ⁷¹ He brought him from following nursing ewes to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. ⁷² And he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skillfulness of his hands.

¹¹ And this shall happen on that day:
The Lord will again extend his hand a second time to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,

¹⁴ "Return, apostate* children," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "For _⌊I am your master_⌋,* and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,* and I will bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight.

¹⁰ But you must not fear, my servant Jacob,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and you must not be dismayed, Israel, for look, I am going to save you from far, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return, and he will be at rest, and he will be at ease, and there will be no one who makes him* afraid.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations, and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say, "The scatterer of Israel will gather him, and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.

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

²⁷ "But as for you, my servant Jacob, you must not be afraid, and Israel, you must not be dismayed, for look, I am going to save you from far, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return, and he will be quiet, and he will be at ease, and without one who makes him afraid. ²⁸ You must not be afraid, my servant Jacob," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for I am with you. For I will make a complete destruction in all the nations where I scattered you, but you I will not make a complete destruction, though I will chastise you to the measure, and I will certainly not leave you unpunished."

³ And I said to her, "_⌊You must remain as mine_⌋* for many days, and you will not play the whore; _⌊you will not belong_⌋* to a man, and I will belong to you." ⁴ The children of Israel will remain for many days without a king and prince, without sacrifice and stone pillar, ephod and teraphim. 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.

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

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.

¹⁴ Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

³⁹ Now this is the will of the one who sent me: that everyone whom he has given me, I would not lose any of them,* but raise them* up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish _⌊forever_⌋,* and no one will seize them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them* to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize them* from the Father's hand. ³⁰ The Father and I are one."

¹² When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded them,* and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.

⁹ in order that the word that he had spoken would be fulfilled: "Those whom you have given to me—I have not lost anyone of them."*

¹⁵ Now when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs!" ¹⁶ He said to him again a second time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Shepherd my sheep!" ¹⁷ He said to him a third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep!

²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son.* ²⁹ I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

⁵ who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,

¹ Therefore I, your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and* also a sharer of the glory that is going to be revealed, exhort the elders among you: ² shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not by compulsion but willingly, in accordance with God, and not greedily but eagerly, ³ and not as lording it over _⌊those under your care_⌋*, but being examples for the flock. ⁴ And when* the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

⁴ And in your majesty _⌊ride victoriously_⌋,* because of truth and humility and righteousness. And let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.

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.

¹⁵ eventhe stalk that your right hand planted, and concerning the shoot* you strengthened for yourself.

² On that day the branch of Yahweh shall become beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall become the pride and glory of the survivors* of Israel.

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.

¹ And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit. 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. 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. ⁵ And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

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.

⁹ _⌊Get yourself_⌋* up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift it up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" ¹⁰ Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with _⌊strength_⌋,* and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his recompense _⌊in his presence_⌋.* ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arm, and he will carry them in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.

¹³ Look, my servant shall achieve success; he shall be exalted, and he shall be lifted up, and he shall be very high.

² For* he went* up like a shoot before him, and like a root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that* we should see him, and no appearance that* we should take pleasure in him.

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.

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

¹⁵ Do you reign as king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and he did justice and righteousness, then it was well with him?

³⁰ Thus says Yahweh:
"Record this man as childless, a man who will not succeed in his days, for no man from his offspring will succeed him,* sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah."

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.'

⁹ But they will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

²⁷ "Look, the days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humankind, and with the seed of animals.*

³¹ Look, the days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will _⌊make_⌋* a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors* on the day of my grasping them* by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³³ "But this is the covenant that I will _⌊make_⌋* with the house of Israel after those days," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh: "I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts* I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. 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." ³⁵ Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, the regulations of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is his name. ³⁶ "If these rules would cease from _⌊before me_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "also the offspring of Israel would cease from being a nation _⌊before me_⌋* _⌊forever_⌋."* ³⁷ Thus says Yahweh, "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³⁸ "Look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

¹⁴ 'Look, days are coming,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will fulfill the good promise* that I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and in that time I will make a branch of righteousness sprout for David, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell _⌊safely_⌋,* and this is what they shall call it: "Yahweh is our righteousness." '

² "Son of man,* tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel, 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. ⁴ He plucked the top of its new plant shoot, and he brought it to the land of Canaan and put it in a city of merchants, ⁵ and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in _⌊fertile soil_⌋* on* many waters; like a willow he planted it. ⁶ And it sprouted, and _⌊it became a vine spreading out_⌋,* low of height, turning its branches to him, and its roots were under it, and _⌊it became a vine_⌋,* and it made* branches, and it sent out foliage. ⁷ " '"And there was another great eagle, great of wings and with abundant plumage, and look! This vine stretched out its roots toward him and extended its branches to him to water it from the garden bed _⌊where it was planted_⌋.* ⁸ It was planted in* a good field by* many waters* to produce branches* and to bear fruit to become* _⌊a beautiful vine_⌋." '* ⁹ Say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will it prosper? Will he not tear out its roots, and will he not make its fruit scaly, and it will wither, and all of the freshness of its vegetation will dry up? And to lift it from its roots _⌊will not require great strength or many people_⌋.* ¹⁰ And look! Though it is planted, will it prosper? _⌊When the east wind strikes it_⌋,* will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!" '"

²² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And I will take, even I, from the treetop of the high cedar, and I will plant it, from the head of its new plant shoot I will pluck a tender one, and I will plant it, even I, on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the height of the mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it will carry* branches,* and it will bear fruit, and _⌊it will become a noble cedar_⌋,* and all of the birds of all wings* will dwell under it in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ And all of the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, I will bring low a high tree, and I will exalt a low, fresh tree, and I will make a dry tree flourish. I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do it.'"

²⁹ And I will raise for them a garden plot* of renown, and they will _⌊no longer_⌋* be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear any more the insult of the nations.

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_⌋.*

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

¹¹ On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old.

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.*

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

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

² saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising* and have come to worship him."

³² This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. ³³ And he will reign over the house of Jacob _⌊forever_⌋,* and of his kingdom there will be no end.

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets wrote about—Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth!"

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!"

⁸ For in finding fault with them he says,
"Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

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.

²⁸ So Israel dwells alone and carefree, the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; his heavens even drip dew. ²⁹ Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, a people who is saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your triumph, and your enemies, they shall fawn before you,* and you shall tread on their backs."

²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in security, each man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

⁷ O Israel, wait* for Yahweh. For with Yahweh there is loyal love, and with him there is abundant redemption. ⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

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.

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.'

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.

¹ And you will say on that day, "I will give you thanks, Yahweh, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. ² Look! God is my salvation; I will trust, and I will not be afraid, for my strength and might is Yah, Yahweh; and he has become salvation for me."

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.

¹⁷ Israel is saved by Yahweh with everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed, and you shall not be humiliated _⌊to all eternity_⌋.*

²⁴ 'Only in Yahweh,' one shall say to me, 'are righteousness and strength.' He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed. ²⁵ In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be in the right, and they shall boast."

¹⁷ Every weapon formed against you shall not succeed, and you shall declare guilty every tongue that rises against you for judgment. This is the inheritance of the servants of Yahweh, and their _⌊legal right_⌋* from me,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

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. ²⁷ And the tree* of the field will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and they will be on their land _⌊safely_⌋,* and they will know that I am Yahweh when I break their yoke, and I will deliver them from the hand of the ones enslaving them. ²⁸ And they will not be any longer plunder to the nations, and the animals of the land will not eat them, and they will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* and there will not be anyone frightening them.

²⁴ " '"And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. ²⁵ And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, _⌊in which your ancestors dwelled_⌋,* and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children _⌊forever_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader for them _⌊forever_⌋.* ²⁶ And I will make with them a covenant of peace; _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋* it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them _⌊forever_⌋.* ²⁷ And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation. ²⁸ And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, am consecrating Israel when my sanctuary is in the midst of them _⌊forever_⌋." '"*

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.

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.

¹⁷ But on Mount Zion there will be an escape, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will take possession of their dispossessors.

²¹ And those who have been saved will go up on Mount Zion to rule the mountain of Esau. And the kingdom _⌊will belong to_⌋* Yahweh.

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

⁴ And he said to him, "Run, say to that young man, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited _⌊like villages without walls_⌋* because of the multitude of people and animals in its midst. ⁵ And I will be for it a wall of fire all around,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will be the glory in its midst.'"

¹⁰ On that day,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'you will invite _⌊one another_⌋* under the vine and under the fig tree.'"

⁶ And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them, and they will be as if I had not rejected them, for I am Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.

⁹ And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one. ¹⁰ All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau* from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it* will rise up high and it will stay* in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. ¹¹ And they* will dwell in it, and _⌊there will be no more ban imposed_⌋,* and Jerusalem will dwell in security.

²¹ And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins." ²² Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, 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."*

⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us ⁷⁴ that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, could serve him without fear

⁹ And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost."

²² that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ* to all who believe. For there is no distinction,

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

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

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

⁹ and may be found in him, not having my righteousness which is from the law, but which is through faith in Christ,* the righteousness from God on the basis of faith,*

¹⁸ "You must not remember the former things, and you not must consider the former things. ¹⁹ Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive* it? Indeed, I will _⌊make_⌋* a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

¹⁴ _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and it will no longer be said, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from the land of Egypt," ¹⁵ _⌊but only_⌋* "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them," for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors.*

³ "Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous.

³¹ Look, the days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will _⌊make_⌋* a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors* on the day of my grasping them* by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³³ "But this is the covenant that I will _⌊make_⌋* with the house of Israel after those days," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh: "I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts* I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. 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."

¹ But Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and he will again choose Israel and set them on their land, and the immigrant will join himself to them, and they will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

⁸ Thus says Yahweh: "Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say 'You must not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,' so I will do for the sake of my servants _⌊by_⌋* not destroying _⌊everyone_⌋.* ⁹ And I will bring descendant s* out from Jacob, and a _⌊people_⌋* from Judah to take possession of my mountain, and my chosen ones shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there. ¹⁰ And Sharon shall become a pasture for* flocks,* and the valley of Achor a resting place for* herds* for my people who have sought me.

¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land.

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_⌋.*

²⁸ And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, because of when I deported them into the nations, and I reassembled them to their soil, and _⌊I will not let any of them remain there any longer_⌋.*

²⁰ At that time I will bring you in; at the time of my gathering you together. For I will make you _⌊renowned_⌋* and praised among all the nations of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says Yahweh.

¹⁹ because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh. ²⁰ Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors,* and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.'" '" Then they _⌊reported the word_⌋* to the king.

³ You have shown your people hard things; You have given us wine that staggers.

⁵ And I said, "Woe to me! For I am destroyed!* For I am a man _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* and I am living among* a people _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!"

¹ Ah! The garland of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim and the withering flower of the glory of his beauty, which is at the head of _⌊the rich valley_⌋,* _⌊ones overcome_⌋* with wine!

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.

²¹ Therefore hear now this afflicted one and drunken one but* not from wine.

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

¹ * _⌊Oh that my head were waters_⌋,* and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people.

¹⁷ "And you shall say to them this word,
'Let my eyes melt with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for with a great wound the virgin daughter of my people is broken, with a very incurable wound. 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_⌋.'"*

¹⁵ For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and you must give it to all the nations to whom I am sending you to drink. ¹⁶ And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the _⌊presence_⌋* of the sword that I am sending among them." ¹⁷ So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave it* to all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink: ¹⁸ Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, and its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness, he has drenched me with wormwood.

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

⁶ You must kill _⌊totally_⌋* old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but _⌊concerning_⌋* every man _⌊with the mark on him_⌋* you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin." And they began with the old men who _⌊were before_⌋* the house.*

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

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

⁹ And I was alive once, apart from the law, but when* the commandment came, sin sprang to life

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

⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and _⌊few men are left_⌋.*

⁷ "_⌊How_⌋* can I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me, and they have sworn by those who are not gods. But I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and flocked to the house of a prostitute. ⁸ They were well-fed lusty horses, they neighed each to the wife of his neighbor.

⁹ Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear _⌊falsely_⌋?* And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known?

² _⌊Oh that I had_⌋* in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors.

¹⁰ For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the desert a lament, because they are laid waste so that no man passes through. And the sounds* of cattle are not heard, from the birds* of heaven to the animals* they have fled, they are gone.

³ But you, O Yahweh, you know me, you see me, and you test that my heart is with you. Tear them apart like sheep for the slaughtering, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. ⁴ _⌊How long_⌋* will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up, because of the wickedness of those who live in it? The animals and the birds* are swept away, because they have said, "He does not see our future."

² "Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.

² She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; she has no comforter among all her lovers. All her friends have been unfaithful to her; they have become her enemies. ³ Judah has gone into exile with misery and under hard servitude; she lives among the nations, she has not found a resting place; all her pursuers have overtaken her amidst her distress. ⁴ The roads of Zion are mourning because no one comes to the festival. All her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young women are worried, and she herself suffers bitterly.

⁹ Slanderous men are _⌊among you_⌋* to shed blood, and they, _⌊among you_⌋,* eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. ¹⁰ They uncover the nakedness of a father among* you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among* you. ¹¹ And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among* you his sister, the daughter of his father.

² Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out,* and bloodshed follows bloodshed. ³ Therefore the land mourns, and all those living in it languish with the animals of the field, and the birds of the heaven, and even the fish of the sea are being swept away.

¹⁰ The field is destroyed; the earth mourns because the grain is destroyed, the new wine dries up, the olive oil languishes.

³ And he said to me, "This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished* according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it. ⁴ 'I have sent it out,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing _⌊falsely by my name_⌋,* and it will spend the night in that* house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.'"

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

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.

¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, things which I am telling you in advance, just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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

⁴ Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed be undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

⁴ Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

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.

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

¹³ "For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, _⌊everyone_⌋* makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, _⌊everyone_⌋* practices deceit.

¹⁰ And then you come and you stand _⌊before_⌋* me in this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* and you say, 'we are safe _⌊to go on doing_⌋* all of these detestable things.' ¹¹ Has this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," * _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

³⁰ For the people * of Judah have done evil in my eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "They have set their abominations in the house that is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* to defile it.

¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.

¹⁵ _⌊What rights has my beloved in my house_⌋* when she has done many wicked things?* Can the flesh of holiness pass over you? For _⌊you engage in your wickedness_⌋,* then you exult.

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

³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.

²⁰ " 'And the beauty of its* ornament _⌊he made into a prideful thing_⌋* and made with it their detestable things and their vile idols; therefore I will make it into an impure thing for them.

⁵ And he said to me, "Son of man,* lift up now* your eyes _⌊toward the north_⌋."* And I lifted up my eyes _⌊toward the north_⌋,* and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And he said to me, "Son of man,* "_⌊Do you see_⌋* what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing* here so as to drive me from* my sanctuary, and yet _⌊you will see again_⌋* greater* detestable things."

¹¹ And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing _⌊before them_⌋.* Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up.

¹⁶ And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun.

²⁵ The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. ²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them.

³⁹ and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, _⌊this is what they did in my house_⌋!*

⁴ Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery; her priests have defiled that which is holy; they do violence to the law.

¹² And Jesus entered the temple courts* and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,'* but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

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

⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of Yahweh pursuing them.

¹⁸ Surely you set them on slippery places. You cause them to fall onto ruin.*

¹⁹ The way of the wicked ones is like deep darkness; they do not know what they stumble over.

²² or look to the earth. But look! Distress and darkness, the gloom of affliction! And it will be thrust into darkness!

²³ And a remnant will not be left for them, for I will bring disaster to the people* of Anathoth, the year of their punishment."

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.

⁴⁴ "He who flees _⌊before_⌋* the dread will fall into the pit, and the one who climbs up from the pit will be caught in the trapping net, for I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁷ Massacre all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughtering. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.

³⁵ So Jesus said to them, "Yet a little time the light is with you! Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you! And the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

¹¹ But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

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.

¹⁸ He said, "I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father have by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals! ¹⁹ So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel." ²⁰ So Ahab sent word among the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word.

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don't set fire under it." ²⁶ So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped* about the altar which they had made. ²⁷ It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or _⌊is using the bathroom_⌋,* or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!" ²⁸ So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them.

⁴⁰ Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any man of them escape!" So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi* of Kishon and killed them there.

⁹ And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹⁶ And the leaders of this people were misleading them, and those who were led were confused.

⁷ The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is acting like a madman. Because of the greatness of your sin, your hostility is great. ⁸ The prophet keeps watch over Ephraim for my God; the snare of a fowler is on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God.

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

²⁰ Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very _⌊serious_⌋,*

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

⁹ If Yahweh of hosts had not left us survivors,* we would have been as few as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah. ¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah!

⁶ Each one helps* his neighbor; he says to his brother, "Take courage!" ⁷ And the artisan encourages the _⌊goldsmith_⌋,* the one who makes smooth with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good!" And they strengthen it with nails so it cannot be knocked over.

³⁰ A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land. ³¹ The prophets prophesy _⌊falsely_⌋,* and the priests rule _⌊by their own authority_⌋,* and my people love it* so much. But what will you do _⌊when the end comes_⌋?*

¹⁴ And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies* in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their _⌊minds_⌋."*

¹³ "Therefore thus says Yahweh,
'Please ask among the nations, "Who has heard _⌊the like of this_⌋?"* The virgin of Israel has done something very horrible.

¹⁶ And let that man be like the cities that Yahweh demolished without regret, and let him hear a cry for help in the morning, and an alarm at the time of noon.

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

²⁵ "I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies* have said in my name, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have dreamed! I have dreamed!' ²⁶ _⌊How long_⌋* will this be in the hearts* of the prophets who prophesy lies,* even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,*

³² Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²³ because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words* in my name, lies* that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

² "Son of man,* prophesy to* the prophets of Israel _⌊who are prophesying_⌋,* and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own _⌊imagination_⌋,* 'Hear the word of Yahweh!' ³ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, _⌊and they did not see anything_⌋!* ⁴ Your prophets have been like foxes* among ruins.

¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²² Because you disheartened the heart of the righteous by deception, and I have not* caused him pain, and strengthened the hands of the wicked so that he did not turn* from his wicked way to save his life. ²³ Therefore falseness* you will not see,* and divination you will not practice* any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh!'"

⁴⁶ And your elder sister, she is Samaria, and her daughters, who are dwelling on your north, and your younger sister is the one dwelling on your south; she is Sodom and her daughters. ⁴⁷ And you have not only gone in their ways, but* you also did according to their detestable things. _⌊In such a short time_⌋* you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways. ⁴⁸ _⌊As surely as I live_⌋,'* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as* you and your daughters did. ⁴⁹ Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and _⌊prosperous ease_⌋* was to her and to her daughters, and _⌊she did not sustain the needy and the poor_⌋.* ⁵⁰ And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing _⌊before me_⌋,* and I removed them _⌊because_⌋* I saw it. ⁵¹ And Samaria did not sin _⌊according to even half of your sins_⌋,* and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.* ⁵² Also,* you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters* through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,* you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous.

²⁵ The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her.

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

¹ _⌊An oracle_⌋.* The word of Yahweh to Israel _⌊through_⌋* Malachi.*

²⁴ Nevertheless I tell you that it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!"

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

² by the hypocrisy of liars, who are seared in their own conscience,

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in _⌊destructive heresies_⌋*, even denying the Master who bought them, thus* bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled.

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

¹⁴ having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and* having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! ¹⁵ By* leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they* followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,* who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ¹⁶ but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained _⌊the prophet's madness_⌋*. ¹⁷ These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ _⌊For by speaking high-sounding but empty words_⌋*, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom although they* themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also* enslaved.

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

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

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

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

¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

²¹ They also gave me gall for food,* and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

¹⁴ Why are we sitting? Gather, and let us go into the fortified cities, and let us perish there, for Yahweh our God has caused us to perish, and has provided drink for us, water of poison, because we have sinned against Yahweh.

¹⁵ Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I am feeding this people wormwood, and providing drink for them, water of poison,

⁵ _⌊He has besieged_⌋* and engulfed me with bitterness and hardship.

¹⁹ Remember my misery and bitterness, the wormwood* and venom!

³⁴ they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink, and when he* tasted it* he did not want to drink it.*

¹¹ And the name of the star was called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they were made bitter.

¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did.

²⁷ Cease to listen to instruction, my child, _⌊and you will stray_⌋* from sayings of knowledge.

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

²⁰ For hear, O women, the word of Yahweh, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters a lamentation, and each woman her neighbor a lament.

²¹ I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

²⁶ _⌊How long_⌋* will this be in the hearts* of the prophets who prophesy lies,* even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,*

⁹ And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.' ¹⁰ For they are prophesying to you a lie, so that you will be removed from your land, and I will drive you away, and you will perish.

¹⁴ And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "but they are prophesying in my name _⌊falsely_⌋,* so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you." ¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Thus says Yahweh, 'You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon", for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷ And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins?

⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you are causing them to dream.

⁶ They saw falseness and _⌊a lying divination_⌋,* the ones saying, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait _⌊for the confirmation of their word_⌋.*

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

²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken.

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!

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

²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasoning, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

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

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim a gospel to you contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let him be accursed! ⁹ As we said before, and now I say again, if anyone is proclaiming a gospel to you contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed!

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²⁰ _⌊but for a whole month_⌋,* until it comes out from your nose and becomes as nausea to you; because you have rejected Yahweh, who is in your midst, and you wept before _⌊his presence_⌋,* saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" '"

¹⁹ And then when he hears the words of this oath, then* _⌊he will assure himself_⌋* in his heart, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart_⌋,'* thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched.*

³⁰ Therefore,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor* would walk before me forever, but now,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!

¹⁰ So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'

¹⁰ Tell the innocent* that it is good for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. ¹¹ Woe to the wicked!* It is bad! For what is done by his hands will be done to him.

²¹ There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of Yahweh,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

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

¹² "They have denied Yahweh, and have said, 'Not he, _⌊for_⌋* evil will not come on us, we will see neither sword nor famine.

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

²⁴ Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and _⌊they became worse instead of better_⌋.*

¹¹ And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

¹⁴ but they went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their ancestors* taught them."

¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go* in the stubbornness of their hearts,* and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, let them be like this loincloth which is not good for anything.

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

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."

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

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

¹⁰ Because, yes, because they led my people astray, _⌊saying_⌋* 'Peace!' And there is not peace. And when anyone* builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash.

¹⁵ And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, "_⌊The wall is no more_⌋,* and _⌊the people covering it are no more_⌋,* ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

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

¹⁰ All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil will not overtake or confront us.'

⁵ Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading my people astray, who are biting with their teeth and proclaim, "Peace," but whoever puts nothing into their mouths they declare war against.

¹² And it shall be that at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men _⌊whose senses are dulled from drinking_⌋,* who say in their hearts, 'Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.'

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

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

¹⁶ The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me. But the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

⁸ Therefore the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, "When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?"

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "_⌊Which way_⌋* did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?"

⁸ Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? ⁹ What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? ¹⁰ Both the gray-haired and the old are among us— _⌊those older than your father_⌋.*

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

¹³ Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh or informed him as _⌊his counselor_⌋*? ¹⁴ With whom has he consulted, that* he enlightened him* and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and made the way of understanding known to him?

²² But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

⁷ Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you.

¹⁶ "For who has known the mind of the Lord; who has advised him?"* But we have the mind of Christ.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush, whether green or _⌊dry_⌋,* he will sweep it away.*

²⁷ When your panic comes like a storm, and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you,

²⁵ With the passing of the tempest, there is no wickedness, but the righteous have a foundation forever.

²⁵ Therefore _⌊Yahweh's wrath was kindled_⌋* against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them* and struck them,* and the mountains quaked, and their corpses* were like refuse in the middle of the streets. ²⁶ And he will raise a signal for a nation* from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly! ²⁷ None is weary, and none among him stumbles; none slumbers and none sleeps. And no loincloth on his waist is opened, and no thong of his sandals is drawn away. ²⁸ Whose arrows are sharp, and all of his bows are bent. The hoofs of his horses are reckoned like flint, and his wheels like the storm wind.

¹ The oracle of the wilderness of the sea:
As storm winds passing over in the Negev,
_⌊it comes_⌋* from the desert, from a frightful land.

²⁴ Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown; indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth when* he blows on them and they wither, and the tempest carries them like stubble.

¹⁵ For look! Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the storm wind, to _⌊give back_⌋* his anger in wrath, and his rebuke in flames of fire. ¹⁶ For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword, and _⌊those slain by_⌋* Yahweh shall be many.

¹¹ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "_⌊A hot wind from the barren heights_⌋* in the desert,* _⌊in the direction of_⌋* the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse,

³² Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
"Look, disaster is going out from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.

²³ Look, the storm of Yahweh! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

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

³ Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power; he will certainly not allow the guilty to go unpunished. _⌊He marches_⌋* in storm wind and in gale; storm clouds are the dust of his feet. ⁴ He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither;* the blossom of Lebanon languishes. ⁵ Mountains quake before him; the hills shake apart.* The earth heaves before him— the world and all her inhabitants. ⁶ His indignation—who can stand before it? Who can endure _⌊his fierce anger_⌋?* His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before* him.

¹⁴ Then Yahweh will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; and my Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and he shall go out in the storm winds of the south.

¹ Then Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen with you in _⌊days to come_⌋.*

²⁹ For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil* in the eyes of Yahweh, _⌊provoking him with the work of your hands_⌋."* ³⁰ So Moses spoke into the ears of the assembly of Israel the words of this song _⌊until they were complete_⌋.*

⁴⁷ and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,'

²⁶ However, Yahweh did not turn from the fierceness of his great anger which was kindled against Judah because of all of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.

¹¹ and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed, ¹² and say "How I hated discipline, and I despised reproof!" ¹³ and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and I did not incline my ear to my instructors! ¹⁴ I was almost at utter* ruin* in the midst of the assembly and congregation."

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

²⁴ Yahweh of hosts has sworn, saying,
"_⌊Surely_⌋* just as I have intended, so it shall be. And just as I have planned, it shall stand:

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.

²⁴ _⌊The burning anger of Yahweh_⌋* will not turn back until his doing, and until his accomplishing the plans of his _⌊mind_⌋.* In the last of the days you will understand it.

⁶ However, did not my words and my regulations which I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?* And they repented and said, 'Yahweh of hosts planned to do with us according to our ways, and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.'" '"

¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Just as I planned to bring disaster* on you when your ancestors* provoked me to anger," says Yahweh of hosts, "and I did not regret it, ¹⁵ _⌊so again I have planned_⌋* in these days to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Do not be afraid!

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said,
"I am here! Send me!"

¹⁵ For I have not sent them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "but they are prophesying in my name _⌊falsely_⌋,* so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you."

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, "Please listen, Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.

⁹ For they are prophesying _⌊falsely_⌋* to you in my name; I have not sent them,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

³¹ "Send to all the exiles,* _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,"

²¹ So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

⁴ Therefore, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus.

¹⁵ And how will they preach, unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things."*

¹⁸ For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it?*

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

¹⁵ And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, _⌊I have sent them over and over again_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, _⌊so that you may live_⌋* on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.'* But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me.

³ Perhaps when the house of Judah hears all the disasters* that I am planning to do to them, then they may turn back each one from his evil way, and I will forgive their guilt and their sin."

⁷ And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

¹⁷ "Son of man,* I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me.

³⁰ "Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one* according to his ways," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. "Repent* and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you.

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

²⁷ for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God.

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.' ¹⁹ "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed that they should repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance.

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

⁶ So then, we must not sleep like the rest, but must be on the alert and be self-controlled.

²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we.* Let us fight with them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.

²⁸ Then the man of God approached, and he spoke to the king of Israel, and he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because Aram has said, "Yahweh is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys," ' I will give all this great crowd into your hand that you may know that I am Yahweh."

⁵ Who is like Yahweh our God, who is enthroned on high,*

¹ For the music director. Of David. A psalm.*
O Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. ² You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought from afar. ³ You search out* my wandering and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ For there is not a word yet on my tongue, but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely. ⁵ You barricade me behind and in front, and set your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is set high; I cannot prevail against it. ⁷ Where I can go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, there you are, and if I make my bed in Sheol, look! There you are. ⁹ If I lift up the wings of the dawn, and I alight on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand would lead me, and your right hand would hold me fast.

³² And _⌊what you are planning_⌋,* surely it will not be—that you are saying, 'Let us be like the nations, like the clans* of the lands, _⌊serving wood and stone_⌋!'* ³³ "_⌊As I live_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, "_⌊surely_⌋* with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with _⌊rage pouring forth_⌋* I will reign as king over you! ³⁴ And I will bring you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage poured out. ³⁵ Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face.

³ But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from _⌊the presence of_⌋* Yahweh. And he went down to Joppa and found a merchant ship going to Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from _⌊the presence of_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴ And Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and it was a great storm on the sea, and the merchant ship _⌊was in danger of breaking up_⌋.*

¹³ So* she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are El-Roi,"* for she said, "Here I have seen after he who sees me."

²⁷ For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! _⌊How could_⌋* this house that I have built?

⁶ Now who indeed has adequate strength to build a house for him? For the heavens and _⌊the highest heavens_⌋* are not able to contain him. Now who am I that I would build a house for him, except to burn incense before him?

¹⁸ "But will God indeed dwell with humankind upon the earth? Look, the heavens and _⌊the highest heavens_⌋* cannot contain you! Surely then this house that I have built will not contain you!

¹³ And you ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge through deep gloom? ¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on the dome of heaven.'

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

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

⁸ You have put our iniquities before you, our hidden sins into the light of your countenance.

⁷ Where I can go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence?

¹¹ And if I should say, "Surely darkness will cover me, and the light around me will be as night," ¹² even the darkness is not too dark for you,* and the night shines as the day— the darkness and the light are alike for you. ¹³ Indeed you created my _⌊inward parts_⌋;* you wove me in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.* Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it well. ¹⁵ My _⌊frame_⌋* was not hidden from you, when I was created secretly,* and intricately woven in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my embryo,* and in your book they all were written— days fashioned for me when there was not one of them.

¹³ let them praise the name of Yahweh, because his name alone is is exalted. His splendor is above earth and heavens.

³ In every place, the eyes of Yahweh keep watch over the evil and the good.

¹⁵ Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide it from Yahweh, and their deeds are* in a dark place. And they say, "Who sees us? And who knows us?"

¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty one who resides forever, and whose name is holy:
"I reside in a high and holy place, and with the _⌊contrite_⌋* and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the _⌊contrite_⌋.*

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool for my feet. Where is this house that you would build for me? And where is this resting place for me?

¹⁰ But I have stripped Esau bare. I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to hide himself. His offspring are devastated, _⌊along with_⌋* his brothers, and his neighbors, and _⌊he is no more_⌋.*

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

⁹ And he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is _⌊exceedingly_⌋* great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and _⌊Yahweh does not see_⌋.*

³⁵ And all the dwellers of the earth are regarded as nothing, and he does _⌊according to_⌋* his desire in the host of heaven and among the dwellers of earth, and there is not one who can hold back his hand, or _⌊ask him_⌋,* 'What are you doing?'

² If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and even if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. ³ And even if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and will take them, and even if they hide from before my eyes at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the sea serpent and it will bite them.

²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers. And _⌊they hated him even more_⌋.*

⁹ Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

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

² You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought from afar.

⁴ For there is not a word yet on my tongue, but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely.

⁶ I have listened attentively, and I have listened. They do not speak honestly, there is no man who regrets his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' All of them are turning to their ways of running, like a horse plunging into battle.

²⁷ Your adulteries, and your neighings, the shameful behavior of your fornications on the hills in the countryside, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! _⌊How long will you continue to be unclean_⌋?*"

¹⁷ For my eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden _⌊from before me_⌋,* and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes.

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

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.

²⁰ But as* he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

³ Therefore everything that you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what _⌊you have whispered_⌋* in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁵ Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord should come, who will both enlighten the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the counsels of hearts, and then praise will come to each one from God.

¹³ And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom _⌊we must give our account_⌋*.

²³ And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

² O sons of man, how long will my honor* be a disgrace? How long will you love vanity? How long will you seek lies?* Selah

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,

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

⁹ The heart is deceitful more than anything else, and it is disastrous. Who can understand it?

⁵ Your calf is rejected,* O Samaria; my anger burns against them. How long* will they be incapable of innocence?

¹⁰ and* said, "O you who are full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord!

¹ Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² by the hypocrisy of liars, who are seared in their own conscience, ³ For there will be a time when they will not put up with sound teaching, but in accordance with their own desires, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, _⌊because they have an insatiable curiosity_⌋*,

¹³ being harmed as the wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, they are stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures when they* feast together with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and* having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! ¹⁵ By* leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they* followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,* who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ¹⁶ but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained _⌊the prophet's madness_⌋*.

¹ "If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams* and he gives to you a sign or wonder, ² and the sign or* the wonder comes about that he spoke* to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,' ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God _⌊is testing you to know whether you love_⌋* Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.* ⁴ You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. ⁵ But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁷ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They forgot Yahweh their God, and they served the Baals and the Asheroth.*

³³ And it happened, as soon as Gideon died, the _⌊Israelites_⌋* returned and prostituted themselves after the Baals, and they made for themselves Baal-Berith as god. ³⁴ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hand of their enemies from all around,

⁶ And again, the _⌊Israelites_⌋* did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and the gods of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* and Philistines; they abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.

³ He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them.

⁸ But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

¹⁷ and their message _⌊will spread_⌋* like gangrene, among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have deviated concerning the truth by* saying the resurrection has already taken place, and they are upsetting the faith of some.

⁶ For from these are those who slip into houses and captivate foolish women loaded down with sins, led by various kinds of desires, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ And _⌊just as_⌋* Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these oppose the truth, people corrupted in mind, disqualified concerning the faith.

⁵ A faithful witness does not lie, but he who breathes out falsehood is a witness of deceit.

⁴⁵ "Who then is the faithful and wise slave whom the master has put in charge of his household slaves to give them their* food at the right time?

⁴² And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them* their* food allowance at the right time?

¹² Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, ¹³ the work of each one will become evident. For the day will reveal it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the work of each one, of what sort it is.

² In this case, moreover, it is sought in stewards that one be found faithful.

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

¹² _⌊I give thanks_⌋* to the one who strengthens me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful, placing me into ministry,*

¹⁴ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, look, I am making my words in your mouth like a fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.

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.

³² And they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?"

⁶³ The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

³ And divided* tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

³⁷ Now when they* heard this,* they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "What should we do, men and brothers?"

¹⁶ to those on the one hand an odor from death to death, and to those on the other hand a fragrance from life to life. And who is qualified for these things?

⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but powerful to God for the tearing down of fortresses, tearing down arguments ⁵ and all pride that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart.

⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, in this way he must be killed.

³ And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, so that _⌊he makes my sanctuary unclean_⌋* and profanes* _⌊my holy name_⌋.*

¹⁷ And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated _⌊before_⌋* your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but* there shall not be _⌊anybody who is pursuing_⌋* you.

²⁰ However, the prophet that behaves presumptuously by speaking a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.'

²⁰ Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven.

¹⁶ The face of Yahweh is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁴ And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies* in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their _⌊minds_⌋."* ¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they are saying, "Sword and famine will not be in this land." "By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish.

¹¹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Look, _⌊I am determined to bring disaster on you_⌋,* even to exterminate all Judah.

²⁹ And this will be to you the sign,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that surely my words will endure against you for evil.'

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am against your magic charm bands _⌊with which you are ensnaring persons_⌋* as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you are ensnaring, treating persons as birds.

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

¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.*

⁵ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we cease?" And they said, "Go up, since God will give it into the hand of the king."

¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you will gore Aram* to their destruction.'" ¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied thus, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph! Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹² Then the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets are good with one voice to the king. Please let your word be as one with them and speak good."

¹⁹ And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel that he would go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this, and another said that. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Then Yahweh said to him, 'By what means?' ²¹ Then he said, 'I will go forth and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You will entice him and will also succeed. Go out and do so.'

¹ "If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams* and he gives to you a sign or wonder, ² and the sign or* the wonder comes about that he spoke* to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,' ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God _⌊is testing you to know whether you love_⌋* Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.* ⁴ You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. ⁵ But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst. ⁶ "If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter _⌊or your wife whom you embrace_⌋* or _⌊your intimate friend_⌋* in secrecy _⌊says_⌋,* 'Let us go and let us serve other gods!' gods that you and your ancestors* have not known, ⁷ from among the gods of the people who are around you, _⌊those near you or those far from you_⌋,* from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, ⁸ you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up* for him. ⁹ But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. ¹⁰ And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹¹ And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and _⌊they shall not continue to act_⌋* according to this evil thing in your midst. ¹² "If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone _⌊saying that_⌋* ¹³ _⌊worthless men_⌋* have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Let us go and serve other gods!' whom you have not known, ¹⁴ then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst, ¹⁵ then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword. ¹⁶ And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be _⌊a pile of rubble forever_⌋;* it shall not be built again. ¹⁷ And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back _⌊from his burning anger_⌋,* and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you _⌊just as he swore_⌋* to your ancestors,* ¹⁸ if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you _⌊today_⌋* so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God."

¹² My people—children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading you, and they confuse the course of your paths.

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

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

²¹ I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

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

¹⁴ And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "but they are prophesying in my name _⌊falsely_⌋,* so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you." ¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Thus says Yahweh, 'You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* "Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon", for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷ And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins? ¹⁸ But if they are prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the _⌊temple_⌋* of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go to Babylon.' ¹⁹ For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, _⌊along with_⌋* all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² 'They will be brought to Babylon, and there they will stay until the day of my attending to them,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.'"

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, "Please listen, Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I am going to send you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.'" ¹⁷ And Hananiah the prophet died in that same year in the seventh month.

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, 'Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. ²² And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles* of Judah who are in Babylon, _⌊saying_⌋,* "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," ²³ because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words* in my name, lies* that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

⁷ Have you not seen _⌊a false vision_⌋* and spoken a _⌊lying divination_⌋,* and you said, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' but _⌊I myself did not speak_⌋.* ⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ⁹ "And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into* the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁰ Because, yes, because they led my people astray, _⌊saying_⌋* 'Peace!' And there is not peace. And when anyone* builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. ¹¹ Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be _⌊a torrent of rain_⌋,* and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! * And a _⌊windstorm_⌋* will burst forth! ¹² And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?' ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And so I will let burst forth a _⌊windstorm_⌋* in my rage, and _⌊there will be a torrent of rain_⌋* in my anger, and hailstones in my rage _⌊for complete destruction_⌋.* ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! ¹⁵ And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, "_⌊The wall is no more_⌋,* and _⌊the people covering it are no more_⌋,* ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁷ "And you, son of man,* place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their _⌊imagination_⌋,* and prophesy against them! ¹⁸ And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe to _⌊those who sew_⌋* magic charm bands on all the wrists* of the hands of my people and _⌊those who make the veils_⌋* that are on the head of people of every height, to ensnare people's lives!* Will you ensnare the lives* of my people _⌊and keep yourselves alive_⌋?*

² _⌊And then_⌋,* on that day,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land. ³ _⌊And then_⌋,* if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!" And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies.

¹⁷ Therefore, when I* was wanting to do this, perhaps then was I making use of vacillation? Or was I deciding what I was deciding according to the flesh, in order that with me my "yes" may be "yes" and my "no" may be "no" at the same time?*

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.

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

² And he went out before Asa and said to him, "Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you.

⁵⁹ God heard and he was very angry and rejected Israel utterly. ⁶⁰ So he abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, the tent he had placed among humankind.

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

²⁸ In the year of the death of king Ahaz there was this oracle:

⁷ I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance. I have given the beloved one of my _⌊heart_⌋* into the hand of her enemies.

¹⁵ Look, they are saying to me, "Where is the word of Yahweh? Please let it come."

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. ⁸ For _⌊as often as_⌋* I speak, I must cry out violence and destruction. I must shout, for the word of Yahweh has become for me a disgrace and derision all day long.

³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors* from _⌊my presence_⌋*, ⁴⁰ and I will bring upon you _⌊an everlasting disgrace_⌋* and _⌊an everlasting shame_⌋* that will not be forgotten."

¹² Even though they bring up their children, I will bereave them before maturity.* Woe to them indeed, when I depart from them!

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

¹ The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

³ _⌊And then_⌋,* if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!" And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies.

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."

³ 'Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great things and inaccessible things that you have not known.'

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

¹¹ And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

²⁶ For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have heard it _⌊and remained alive_⌋?*

²⁶ Now David had spoken to the men who were standing with him, saying, "What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?"

³⁶ Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he defied the battle lines of the living God."

⁴ Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all of the words of the chief commander whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to insult the living God, and he will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remainder who are left.'"

³ May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, the tongue speaking great boasts—

⁸ * And they who would cause him* to stumble, their own tongue will be against them. All who gaze on them will shake.*

³ What shall be given to you,* and what more shall be done to you, deceitful tongue?

⁹ to execute on them the judgment that is decreed.* This will be honor for all his faithful ones; Praise Yah.*

²⁰ He who is crooked of heart* will not find goodness, and he who is perverse, by his tongue he will fall into calamity.

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

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

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.

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.

³⁶ But I tell you that every worthless word that they speak, people will give an account for it on the day of judgment!

²² He said to him, '_⌊By your own words_⌋* I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

¹⁵ and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, proclaiming the good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things that are in them—

⁷ not that there is a different gospel, except there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁵ For each one will carry his own burden.

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,

¹⁷ These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ _⌊For by speaking high-sounding but empty words_⌋*, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error,

¹⁶ as he does also in all his** letters, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures.

¹⁵ to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly* concerning all their ungodly deeds that they have committed in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. ¹⁶ These people are grumblers, discontented, proceeding according to their* desires, and their mouths speaking pompous words, _⌊showing partiality to gain an advantage_⌋*.

¹³ Now the priests and the Levites who were throughout all Israel took their stand with him* from all their territories. ¹⁴ For the Levites left their pasturelands and their property and came to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh.

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.

²⁸ then* I will go against you in hostile anger, and also* I myself* will discipline you seven times for your sins.

³⁹ See, now, that I, even I am he, and there is not a god besides me; I put to death and I give life; I wound and I heal; there is not one who delivers from my hand!

¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹³ He who despises a word will bring destruction on himself, but he who respects a commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁵ I, I myself, I have spoken! Indeed, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will be successful in his way.

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!

¹⁵ And I will cast you _⌊out of my sight_⌋* just as I cast out all of your blood relatives,* all of the offspring of Ephraim." '

³³ "Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'What is the burden* of Yahweh?' then you shall say to them, '_⌊You are the burden_⌋,* and I will forsake you,'" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁸ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh: "Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans, who are fighting against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and they will burn it, and the houses where they have made smoke offerings on their roofs to Baal, and where they have devoted libations to other gods, in order to provoke me to anger. ³⁰ For the people* of Israel and the people* of Judah were doing only evil in my eyes from their youth, for the people* of Israel were only provoking me to anger by the work of their hands," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³¹ "For this city has been for me a cause of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even until this day, so I will remove it from my _⌊sight_⌋,* ³² because of all the evil of the people* of Israel and the people* of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men* of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to me their backs* and not their faces, though _⌊I have taught them over and over again_⌋,* but they were not listening to accept discipline. ³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my _⌊mind_⌋* to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin."

¹⁷ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered." '"

³¹ And I will punish him, and his offspring, and his servants for their guilt, and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster with which I have threatened them, but they would not listen." '"

³ For because of the _⌊anger_⌋* of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his _⌊presence_⌋.* And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

²⁰ Why have you forgotten us forever? Why have you forsaken us _⌊for so long_⌋?*

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

³ and you must say, 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: "Look, I am bringing upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places,

¹⁸ And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them."

¹¹ " 'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I, even I, will seek my flock, and I will look after them,

²⁰ " 'Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: "Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep,

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me.* And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.*

¹⁴ Because I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a fierce strong lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear and I will go; I will carry off, and there is no one who delivers.

¹² Even though they bring up their children, I will bereave them before maturity.* Woe to them indeed, when I depart from them! ¹³ Ephraim, as I see it, is like a palm in a meadow; but Ephraim must bring out his children to the slayer. ¹⁴ Give them, O Yahweh— what will you give them? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. ¹⁵ Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal, so I began to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels. ¹⁶ Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall not bear fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb. ¹⁷ My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will be wanderers among the nations.

⁴¹ Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

⁹ who will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,

³⁷ And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.

¹¹ But Yahweh is with me like a powerful warrior. _⌊Therefore_⌋* my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. They will be very ashamed, for they will not achieve success. Their _⌊everlasting insult_⌋* will not be forgotten.

⁹ And I will make them as a terror, an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, as a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them.

¹⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will pour out on you at your going to Egypt, and you will become a curse, and a horror, and a curse formula, and a disgrace, and you will no longer see this place." '

⁸ provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors,* and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set _⌊before you_⌋* and _⌊before_⌋* your ancestors.'* ¹¹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Look, _⌊I am determined to bring disaster on you_⌋,* even to exterminate all Judah. ¹² And I will take away the remnant of Judah _⌊who are determined_⌋* to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace.

¹⁴ And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of _⌊every one who passes by_⌋.* ¹⁵ And it will be* an object of taunting* and an object of mockery, a warning and a horror to the nations that are around you whenever I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in furious punishments! I, Yahweh, have spoken!

¹⁶ Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, _⌊your holy mountain_⌋,* because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors* Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.

² And many from those sleeping _⌊in the dusty ground_⌋* will awake, some to _⌊everlasting life_⌋* and some to disgrace and _⌊everlasting contempt_⌋.*

⁷ When they became many, their sin increased against me; they changed* their glory into shame.