Zephaniah Cross References - Thomson

¹ The word of the Lord which came to Sophonias the Chusite, the son of Godolias son of Amorias, son of Ezekias in the days of Josias son of Amos king of Juda. ² Let there be a total failure from the face of this land, saith the Lord. ³ Let man and beast perish. Let the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea perish. As for the wicked, they shall be without strength; and I will remove transgressions from the face of this land, saith the Lord. ⁴ I will indeed stretch forth my hand against Juda, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will remove out of this place the names of Baal and the names of her priests; ⁵ and them who worship the host of heaven on the house tops; both those Worshippers and them also who swear by the Lord and who swear also by their king; ⁶ and them who turn aside from the Lord, and them who seek not the Lord, and them who cleave not to him. ⁷ Be struck with awe, at the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near at hand. Because the Lord hath prepared his sacrifice and hallowed his guests; ⁸ therefore it shall come to pass in the day of the sacrifice of the Lord, that I will execute vengeance on the chiefs and on the house of the king, and on all them who are clothed with strange apparel. ⁹ And I will punish publicly before the gates, on that day, them who fill the house of the Lord their God with impiety and deceit. ¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be a sound of shouting from the gate of the warriors, and a doleful lamentation from the second gate, and a great crashing from the hills. ¹¹ Raise the song of Woe, ye who inhabit the stormed city; because all the people are like Chanaan. And they who were elated with silver are to be all cut off. ¹² Therefore it shall come to pass in that day, that I will search Jerusalem with a lamp, and execute vengeance on the men who are despisers; upon their stores. And as for them who say in their hearts, "The Lord will neither do good nor harm, " ¹³ their wealth shall be for plunder; and their houses, for desolation. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; and though they plant vineyards; they shall not drink the wine thereof; ¹⁴ because the great day of the Lord is near; is near and hasting with great speed. The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, and dreadful things are ordained: ¹⁵ that day will be a mighty day of wrath; a day of tribulation and distress: a day of wasting and desolation; a day of gloom and darkness; a day of clouds and thick darkness; ¹⁶ a day of the trumpet and shouting against the fortified cities and against the lofty towers. ¹⁷ And I will bring distress upon the men and they shall walk as if blind. Because they have sinned against the Lord, therefore he will pour out their blood like dust and their flesh as dung; ¹⁸ . And their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them, in the day of the indignation of the Lord. By the fire of his zeal the whole land shall be consumed, for he will bring speedy destruction on all the inhabitants of this land.

¹ Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedia. She was a daughter of Edria of Basuroth. ² He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right nor to the left. ³ Accordingly in the eighteenth year of king Josias in the eighth month, the king sent Sapphan son of Ezelias, son of Mesollam, the scribe of the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ Go up to Chelkias the high priest and seal the money which is brought into the house of the Lord; which they who keep the weights have received from the people, ⁵ and let it be delivered into the hand of the board of works in the house of the Lord. And when he had given this to the board of works in the house of the Lord to defray the expence of the repairs of the house; ⁶ for the carpenters and the masons, and them who built the walls, and to purchase wood and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house; ⁷ [now they to whom the money was given were not to be called to account, for they acted in confidence] ⁸ Chelkias the high priest said to Sapphan the scribe, I have found a book of the law in the house of the Lord. So Chelkias gave the book to Sapphan; and when he had read it ⁹ he went to the king in the house of the Lord, and having made report to the king, saying, Thy servants have melted the silver found in the house of the Lord, and have given it to the board of works which hath charge of the house; ¹⁰ Sapphan the scribe spake to the king, saying, Chelkias the priest hath given me a book. and Sapphan read it before the king. ¹¹ And when the king heard the words of the book of the law he rent his clothes. ¹² Then the king gave orders to Chelkias the priest and Achikam son of Sapphan and Achobar son of Michaias, and to Sapphan the scribe and Asaias a servant of the king, saying, ¹³ Go and inquire of the Lord concerning me and concerning all this people and concerning all Juda, and concerning the words of this book which is found. For great must be the wrath of the Lord which is kindled against us; because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book to do according to all that is written for us. ¹⁴ Accordingly Chelkias the priest went with Achikam and Achobar and Sapphan and Asaias to Olda the prophetess the mother of Sellem son of Thekuan, son of Aras the keeper of the wardrobe. Now she dwelt at Jerusalem in the Masena. And when they had spoken to her, ¹⁵ she said to them, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, Say to the man who hath sent you to me, ¹⁶ Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am bringing evils on this place and on the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Juda hath read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me by the works of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. ¹⁸ But to the king of Juda who hath sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, With respect to the words which thou hast heard, ¹⁹ because thy heart was softened and thou didst humble thyself on the account of them soon as thou didst hear what I had spoken against this place and the inhabitants thereof; that they should become a desolation and a curse; and didst rend thy clothes and weep before me; for I heard, saith the Lord; ²⁰ therefore behold I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, and thy eyes shall not see all the evils which I will bring on this place. When they brought back this answer to the king,

¹ Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem, ² and did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right or to the left. ³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, he began to seek the Lord the God of his father David. And in the twelfth year of his reign, he began to cleanse Juda and Jerusalem, from the high places and the bowers, and from their processions around altars, and from the molten images. ⁴ And having caused to be torn down in his presence, the altars of the Baalims, and the high things which were on them, he cut down the bowers, and broke in pieces the graven and the molten images. And having beaten them to dust, he strewed it over the graves of them who had sacrificed to them, ⁵ and burned the bones of the priests on the altars. And when he had cleansed Juda and Jerusalem, ⁶ he proceeded on through the cities of Manasses, and Ephraim, and Symeon, and Nephthaleim, and the places around them, ⁷ and tore down the altars, and the bowers, and chopped to pieces the idols. And having demolished all the high places in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. ⁸ And in the eighteenth year of his reign, on purpose to cleanse the land and the house, he sent Saphan son of Eselia, and Maasa, the ruler of the city, and Juach son of Joachaz his recorder to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ So they went to Chelkias the high priest, and gave the money which had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the gates had collected from Manasses and Ephraim, and the chiefs, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from the children of Juda and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ¹⁰ they gave this to the board of works, who superintended the house of the Lord; and these gave it to the workmen who did the work in the house of the Lord, to furnish, and to strengthen the house, ¹¹ and they gave to the carpenters and the masons, to purchase square stones, and timber for planks to cover the houses, which the king of Juda had destroyed. ¹² Though these men were intrusted with the works, yet over them were overseers, namely Jehu and Abdias the Levites of the house of Merari, and Zacharias, and Mosollam, of the house of Kaath. And with regard to all the chiefs of Levi, every one skilled in instrumental musick ¹³ was over the bearers of burdens, and over all the men who executed the works, one to every piece of work, and some of the Levites were scribes and judges and keepers of the gates. ¹⁴ Now when they were carrying out the money, which had been brought into the house of the Lord, Chelkias the priest found a book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. ¹⁵ Whereupon Chelkias addressing Saphan the scribe said, I have found a book of the law in the house of the Lord. Chelkias gave the book to Saphan, ¹⁶ and Saphan carried it to the king. Now he had given him also for the king, an account intitled, All the money delivered to thy servants the workmen. ¹⁷ For when they had melted the silver found in the house of the Lord, they gave it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of them who executed the work. ¹⁸ So when Saphan the scribe had explained the account to the king, he said, Chelkias the priest hath given me a book. And Saphan read it before the king. ¹⁹ And when the king heard the words of the law, he rent his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king gave orders to Chelkias, and to Achikam, son of Saphan, and to Abdom son of Michaias, and to Saphan the scribe, and Asaias the king's servant, saying, ²¹ Go and inquire of the Lord for me, and for all the remnant of Israel and Juda, touching the words of this book which is found; for great must be the wrath of the Lord, which is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to these words of the Lord, to do according to all that are written in this book. ²² Thereupon Chelkias, with those whom the king ordered, went to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellem son of Thekoe son of Aras. She kept the commandments and dwelt at Jerusalem in the Masanai. And when they spoke to her to that effect ²³ she said to them, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, Say to the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am going to bring upon this place evils; all the things which are written in the book read before the king of Juda. ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me, and burned incense to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands, therefore my anger is kindled against this place and cannot be quenched. ²⁶ But to the king of Juda, who hath sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, With regard to the words which thou hast heard, ²⁷ as thy heart was affected, and thou didst humble thyself before me when thou heardst these words of mine against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof; As thou hast humbled thyself before me, and hast rent thy garments and wept before me; I have heard saith the Lord. ²⁸ Behold I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be carried to thy grave in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the evils which I am going to bring upon this place, and upon them who dwell therein. And when they brought back word to the king, ²⁹ the king sent and assembled the elders of Juda and Jerusalem; ³⁰ and went up to the house of the Lord, with all the chiefs of Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and with the priests and the Levites, and all the people small and great, and read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ Then the king stood on the pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord to walk before the Lord and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with his whole heart, and his whole soul, so as to perform all the terms of the covenant, written in that book; ³² and he caused all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And when the inhabitants of Jerusalem, had made a covenant in the house of the Lord God of their fathers, ³³ Josias removed all the abominations out of all the land, which belonged to the children of Israel, and caused all who were in Jerusalem, and in Israel, to serve the Lord their God. During all his days he turned not aside from following the Lord God of his fathers.

² as the word of God came to him in the days of Josias son of Amos king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign

³ [J] From the thirteenth year of Josias son of Amos king of Juda even to this day, for three and twenty years I have spoken to you rising early and speaking:

³ the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chobar. And the hand of the Lord was upon me,

¹ A word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Ozias and Joatham and Achaz and Ezekias kings of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joas king of Israel.

¹⁶ All scripture, given by divine inspiration, is indeed profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for reformation, for instruction in righteousness,

¹⁹ Therefore we have a more complete confirmation of the prophetic word, to which you do well in giving attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawn, and the bringer of light rise in your hearts;

⁷ And God came to a determination and said, "I will blot out from the face of this earth the man I have made, both man and beast; both reptiles and birds of the air. For I am grieved that I made them.

¹⁶ Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am bringing evils on this place and on the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Juda hath read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me by the works of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched.

²¹ that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, That until the land received its sabbaths which it ought to have rested, it should keep a sabbath all the days of its desolation, to the completion of seventy years.

¹¹ Whereupon I said, For how long? Lord! And he said, Until cities be wasted so as not to be habitable; and houses, so that there be no men; and the land be left utterly desolate:

⁸ be instructed, Jerusalem! lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee an untrodden land, which shall not be inhabited. ⁹ For thus saith the Lord, Glean, glean as a vineyard the remains of Israel. Return again and again like a grape gatherer to his basket.

⁸ But like those bad figs which for their badness cannot be eaten, thus saith the Lord, So will I deliver up Zedekias king of Juda and his nobles and the remnant of Jerusalem; them who are left in this land and them who dwell in Egypt. ⁹ Them indeed I will devote to dispersion in all the kingdoms of the earth; and they shall be for a reproach and for a by-word and for a taunt and a curse in every place whither I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send against them famine and pestilence and the sword, until they are utterly consumed from this land which I gave them.

²² behold I am about to issue orders, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it, and take it and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without inhabitants.

²⁹ and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast burned that roll, saying, "Why hast thou written therein and said the king of Babylon shall surely come and lay waste this land, so that neither man nor beast shall be left therein;"

²⁷ Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord, Lord, As I live, they who dwell in the wastes shall fall by the sword; and they in the open country shall be delivered to the wild beasts of the field for food: and those in walled towns and those in caves I will destroy with pestilence ²⁸ and I will make the land a desert. And the pride of its strength shall be destroyed, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate by reason of none passing through it. ²⁹ And they shall know that I am the Lord. For I will make their land a desert and it shall be wasted, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

¹³ And the land shall be for desolation with them who inhabit it, for the fruits of their devices.

⁹ [J] By means of this the iniquity of Jacob will be removed: and this will be to him a subject of thanksgiving, when I take away his sin: when they grind to powder all the hewn stones of their altars, and their groves no longer remain, and their idols hacked to pieces like a forest are far away.

²³ [p] I beheld the earth and lo! a void! Then the heaven; and its lights were gone. ²⁴ I beheld the mountains; and they were trembling, and all the hills were in perturbation. ²⁵ I looked; and lo! there was not a man; and all the birds of the air were flown. ²⁶ I beheld; and lo! Karmel was a desert; and all the cities were burned with fire. At the presence of the Lord; and because of his fierce anger, they are utterly destroyed. ²⁷ [J] Thus saith the Lord, The whole land shall be a desert; but I will not make a complete end. ²⁸ For these things let the land mourn; and the heaven above be covered with darkness; for I have spoken and I will not change my mind, I have made an assault and will not withdraw from it. ²⁹ [p] At the sound of the cavalry and bended bow all the country had fled. They had skulked into caves; and hidden themselves in forests; and upon rocks they had climbed up. Every city was deserted; in them not a man dwelt.

⁴ How long shall the land mourn, and all the grass of the field be withered, for the wickedness of them who dwell therein? The cattle and fowls are vanished; because they said, God will not regard our ways.

¹⁹ Their silver shall be thrown in the streets; and their gold shall be disregarded. Their souls shall not be satisfied; nor shall their bellies be filled: because the punishment of their iniquities is come.

³ Son of man, these men have given their imaginations the rule over their hearts, though they placed before their eyes the punishment of their transgressions. Shall I, being consulted, return them an answer? ⁴ Therefore speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord, Be the man who he may of the house of Israel, who giveth his imagination the rule over his understanding, when he hath set before his eyes the punishment of his iniquity, and cometh to a prophet: I the Lord will answer him by the things with which his mind is entangled, ⁵ that he may lead the house of Israel astray, according to their hearts which are alienated from me by their desires, ⁶ Say therefore to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Lord, reform and turn from your evil devices, and from all your acts of impiety; and turn your faces about. ⁷ For be the man who he may of the house of Israel, or of the proselytes who have sojourned with Israel, who shall separate himself from me, and give his desires the rule over his understanding when he hath set before his eyes the punishment of his iniquity and shall come to the prophet that he may inquire of me; I the Lord will answer him by that with which he is entangled;

¹³ when a country transgresseth against me, so as to incur ruin; and I stretch out my hand against it; and break the staff of bread, and send against it famine, and destroy out of it both man and beast; ¹⁴ should there be in it three such men as these Noe, Daniel and Job: They for their righteousness shall be saved, saith the Lord. ¹⁵ Or if I send wild beasts against that land and punish it, and it become a desolation not to be traveled by reason of the wild beasts; ¹⁶ and there be in it three such as those; As I live, saith the Lord neither sons nor daughters shall be saved; none but they only shall escape, and the land shall be for destruction. ¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword against that land, and say, sword, pass thou through this land, that I may cut off from it man and beast; ¹⁸ should there be in it three such men as those; As I live saith the Lord, they shall not deliver sons nor daughters; they and they only shall be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence against that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with slaughter, with intent to destroy out of it man and beast, ²⁰ and Noe, Daniel and Job be therein; As I live, saith the Lord, neither sons nor daughters shall be left: they for their righteousness shall deliver only their own souls. ²¹ Yet thus saith the Lord, Though I send these my four severe judgments sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence, against Jerusalem to destroy out of it man and beast,

⁶ Say therefore, Thus saith the Lord, Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have doomed to be destroyed by fire, so have I doomed the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷ And I will set my face against them. When they escape out of one fire another shall devour them. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. ⁸ And I will make the land a desolation for their apostacy, saith the Lord.

¹² Because they waited on them before their idols, and this brought on Israel the punishment of rebellion; therefore I have lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God,

³ therefore the land shall mourn and be wasted with all its inhabitants, with the wild beasts of the fields and with the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the air. Even the fishes of the sea shall fail.

³ Assur cannot save us. We will no more mount horses; we will no more say to the works of our hand, "You are our gods." He who is in thee will compassionate the fatherless.

⁸ As for Ephraim, what hath he any more to do with idols? I humbled him and I will strengthen him. I am like a fruitful juniper; from me thou shalt find fruit.

¹¹ and I will root out the cities of thy land and demolish thy fortifications. ¹² And I will cut off thy sorceries out of thy hands and in thee shall be no diviners. ¹³ And I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars from the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands. ¹⁴ And I will cut down the groves from amidst thee and utterly destroy thy cities;

² And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land; and there shall no more be a remembrance of them. And I will remove the false prophets and the unclean spirit out of the land.

³⁹ for you. For I say to you, Henceforth you shall not see me until you say, Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord.

¹⁴ Nevertheless I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.

¹² Thou didst stretch forth thy right hand, The earth swallowed them up,

¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Achab; and wipe Jerusalem as a vessel of alabaster is wiped and turned on its mouth.

⁴ Then the king ordered Chelkias the high priest and the priests of the second order and them who had the charge of the weights, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils which were made for Baal and for the bower and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem at Sademoth Kedron, and sent the ashes thereof to Baithel. ⁵ He burned also the Chomarims, whom the kings of Juda had appointed. These were they who burned incense on the high places and in the cities of Juda and in the places around Jerusalem. He burned them also, who offered incense to Baal and to the sun and the moon and the signs in the zodiack and to all the host of heaven.

⁴ And having caused to be torn down in his presence, the altars of the Baalims, and the high things which were on them, he cut down the bowers, and broke in pieces the graven and the molten images. And having beaten them to dust, he strewed it over the graves of them who had sacrificed to them,

²⁶ [p] This is the counsel which the Lord hath taken against the whole empire, and this is the hand which is lifted high against all the nations. ²⁷ For who can disannul what the holy God hath decreed? and his hand which is lifted high, who can turn aside?

¹² therefore their houses shall be transferred to others; their fields and their wives together. Because I will stretch forth my hand against the inhabitants of this land, saith the Lord;

⁵ Let the inhabitants of Samaria sojourn with the calf of the house of On, because its people mourned for it. Now as they provoked it they should rejoice at its glory; that it hath been removed from them.

¹³ And I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars from the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands.

²⁰ Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and cleave to him, and swear by his name.

⁷ That you may have no fellowship with those nations which are left, the names of their gods must not be mentioned among you; nor shall you perform religious service to them, nor worship them;

⁵ [Omitted]

³³ Because he hath forsaken me and sacrificed to Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos and the idols of Moab, and to their king the horror of the Ammonites, and hath not walked in my ways to do what is right in my sight like his father David;

²¹ to them, How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him: but if Baal; follow him. But the people made no reply.

³³ They both feared the Lord and served their own gods, according to the ritual of the nations from which they had been transplanted.

⁴¹ Yet these nations feared the Lord and at the same time served their graven images. And even to this day their children and their children's children do as their fathers did.

¹² and the altars which were on the roof of Achaz's chamber, which the king's of Juda had erected? and he pulled down the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and having dragged them out thence piece meal, he threw the rubbish of them into the brook Kedron.

⁵ One will say, "I belong to God;" and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, "I belong to God;" and will surname himself by the name of Israel.

²³ By myself I swear [righteousness shall proceed from my mouth; my words shall not be reversed] that to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear, with respect to God,

¹ Hear these things, ye house of Jacob, ye who are called by the name of Israel! ye who are descendants of Juda! ye who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, making mention of it, but not with truth, nor with righteousness;

² As the Lord liveth" with truth in judgment and justice: then shall the nations bless by him, and by him praise God in Jerusalem.

⁷ for which of these can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by things which are no Gods. When I fed them plentifully, they committed adultery, and revelled in the houses of harlots.

¹³ And the houses of the kings of Juda shall be like this hopeless place, because of their impurities in all the houses on the tops of which they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out libations to strange gods.

²⁹ And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and burn this city with fire; and they will burn those houses on the tops of which they have offered incense to Baal and poured out libations to strange gods, to provoke me.

¹⁵ As for thee, Israel, continue not in ignorance; and thou Juda go not to Galgala. Either go not up to the house of On, or swear not by the living Lord.

²⁶ You have indeed taken up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Raiphan; those types of them which you have made for yourselves. Therefore I will remove you beyond Damascus; saith the Lord, the God whose name is the Almighty.

²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for he will either hate one and love the other; or he will attend to one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and a worldly temperent

¹¹ For it is written, "As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall give praise to God."

¹¹ Have I had comfort for making Saul king? For he hath turned away from following me, and hath not observed my orders. Thereupon Samuel was grieved, and cried to the Lord that whole night.

⁴ The sinner hath greatly provoked the Lord; according to his great anger will he not make inquisition? God is not before his eyes;

² The Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men; to see if any had understanding or were seeking God. ³ They had all gone aside, they were altogether become vile: there is none who doeth good; no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they practised deceit: the poison of asps is under the lips of them whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they did not know: there is no fear of God before their eyes.

³ The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He would not be wise to do good.

⁵ But them who turn aside into crooked ways, the Lord will drive away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!

⁴ Ah! sinful nation; people full of sins! vile race! iniquitous children! you have utterly forsaken the Lord; and provoked to wrath the Holy One of Israel.

¹³ The people did not turn till they were smitten; as they indeed did not seek the Lord;

²² I had not now called upon thee, Jacob, nor caused thee Israel, to weary thyself:

¹³ Because my people did two things which are both evil: they forsook me, the fountain of living water; and hewed out for themselves broken cisterns which cannot hold water.

¹⁷ Hath not thy forsaking me, saith the Lord thy God, brought these things upon thee?

¹⁰ and for all this the treacherous Juda turned not to me with her whole heart but only feignedly.

⁶ Thou hast turned thy back on Me, saith the Lord: backwards thou shalt go. And I will stretch forth My hand and destroy thee. I will no longer bear with them;

²⁰ So when a righteous man turneth from his righteous acts and shall commit transgression though I lay the punishment before him; he shall die. Because thou hast not warned him, though he indeed shall die for his sins [for his righteous acts will not be remembered; yet his blood I will require at thy hand.

¹⁵ As for thee, Israel, continue not in ignorance; and thou Juda go not to Galgala. Either go not up to the house of On, or swear not by the living Lord. ¹⁶ Because Israel ran about madly like a heifer stung by a gad fly, the Lord will now feed them like a lamb in a roomy place.

⁷ They were all hot as an oven and devoured their judges; all their kings fell; there was none among them who appealed to me.

⁷ [p] His people are indeed in imminent danger of being removed from their dwelling, will God be provoked against his honours so as never to exalt him?

¹¹ There is none who hath understanding. There is none who seeketh God.

³ how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which was first published by the Lord, and confirmed for us by them who heard him,

³⁸ now the just shall live because of faith; but if he, through fear, draw back; my soul hath no pleasure in him." ³⁹ But we are not of them who draw back for perdition; but of them who believe for the attainment of life.

¹⁸ For uttering, with a solemn tone, swelling words of vanity, they by the lusts of the flesh. by acts of lasciviousness, ensnare them who are indeed flying from those conversant in error; ¹⁹ promising them liberty while they themselves are slaves to corruption; for by whatever one is subdued, by that he is enslaved ²⁰ For if alter fleeing from the pollutions of the world by an acknowledgment of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, any are again entangled and overcome by them, the last state of such persons is worse than the first. ²¹ For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it hath happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog is returned to his vomit," and "the washed hog to its wallowing slough."

⁹ He granteth the petitioner his prayer, And hath blessed the years of the righteous; Because a man is not mighty in strength, ¹⁰ The Lord will make his adversary weak. Holy is the Lord. Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, Nor the mighty man boast of his power; Nor let the rich man boast of his riches: But let him who boasteth, boast of this; That the Lord understandeth, and knoweth, And that he executeth judgment and justice in the land. The Lord ascended up to heaven and thundered; He will judge the highest on earth: To our kings he giveth power, And he will exalt the horn of his anointed.

⁵ And he said, It is peaceable. I come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and rejoice with me to-day. And when he was hallowing Jessai and his sons and inviting them to the sacrifice,

²⁶ And on that day Saul said nothing, for he thought it was accidental; that being unclean he had not purified himself.

⁴ Why should I continue the debate any further? I stand corrected for commencing a suit against the Lord. On hearing such things, what answer can I, who am nothing, make to Thee? I will lay my hand on my mouth. ⁵ Once I have spoken, but I will not proceed a second time. I heard of Thee before, with the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye hath seen Thee, therefore I abhor myself, and am ready to drop into dissolution, and account myself as dust and ashes.

¹⁰ Be still and know that I am God: let me be exalted among the nations, let me be exalted in the earth.

⁸ From heaven thou didst cause the sentence to be heard; the earth was terrified and was still: ⁹ when God arose for judgment, to save all the meek in heart.

¹ Wisdom hath built herself a house, and fixed underneath it seven pillars. ² She hath slain her victims. She hath mixed her wine for the cup and furnished her table. ³ She hath sent out her servants, and with a loud proclamation hath given an invitation to her entertainment, saying, ⁴ "Whosoever is simple, let him come to me." And to them who want understanding she saith, ⁵ "Come, eat of my bread and drink the wine which I have mixed for you. ⁶ Forsake folly, that you may reign forever: and seek prudence and build up understanding with knowledge."

¹² For the day of the Lord of hosts is against every scorner and haughty man; and against every one high and lofty, and they shall be humbled:

⁵ Whereupon I said, Ah! Woe is me! [for I was confounded] for being a man, and having unclean lips; and dwelling among a people of unclean lips, I have seen with mine eyes the king the Lord of Hosts.

⁶ Raise the mournful cry! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and destruction from God will come:

⁶ [p] The sword of the Lord hath been glutted with blood; it is pampered with suet; with the blood of he; goats and lambs, and with the suet of goats and rams. Because there is a sacrifice for the Lord in Bosor, and a great slaughter in Idumea;

¹⁰ [p] This is indeed a day for the Lord our God: a day of vengeance, to execute vengeance on his enemies. And the sword of the Lord shall devour and be filled; it shall indeed be glutted with their blood; for there is a sacrifice for the Lord in the land of the north at the river Euphrates.

⁷ [3] Now the end is upon thee. I will send it against thee, and punish thee for thy ways and retribute to thee all thine abominations.

¹⁰ Behold it is the day of the Lord. If indeed the rod hath budded,

¹⁷ Thou, therefore, son of man, say, Thus saith the Lord, Say to every winged bird, and to all the wild beasts of the field, Assemble and come: assemble from all around to my sacrifice, to the great sacrifice which I have made for you on the mountains of Israel; and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ You shall eat the flesh of giants and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. Earns and young bulls and he goats; and all the bulls are well fatted. ¹⁹ And you shall eat fat till you are glutted, and drink blood to satiety, at my sacrifice which I have prepared for you. ²⁰ And you shall be filled at my table with horses and horsemen, and with giants and every great warrior, saith the Lord.

¹ Blow the trumpet in Sion; make proclamation on my holy mountain. And let all the inhabitants of the land be alarmed. For the day of the Lord is approaching; for it is near; ² a day of darkness and gloom; a day of clouds and thick darkness. Like dawn, there shall be poured out on the mountains a people numerous and powerful, the like of them hath never been, nor shall be any more to the years of all generations.

¹¹ and the Lord will utter his voice before his army. Because the circuit of his camp is very large; because the operation of his words is irresistible; because the day of the Lord is great, extremely awful; who therefore shall be able to abide it?

³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and illustrious day of the Lord.

¹⁸ Alas for them who desire the day of the Lord! Why should you desire the day of the Lord, when it is darkness and not light? ¹⁹ As if a man would flee from the face of a lion and a bear met him, or, as if one would leap into a house and leaning his hand on the wall a serpent bit him. ²⁰ Is not this day of the Lord darkness and not light; even thick darkness, in which there is not a ray of light?

¹⁰ and the residue shall be left and their domestics shall succeed them. And when they are pressed to bring their bones out of the house, one will say to them who are over the family, Are there any more yet with thee? And when one will say, There is no more: then will one say, Forbear to mention the name of the Lord on this account;

²⁰ But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be awed at his presence.

¹⁴ because the great day of the Lord is near; is near and hasting with great speed. The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, and dreadful things are ordained:

¹³ Let all flesh be struck with awe, at the presence of the Lord, for he is risen up from his holy clouds.

¹ For behold a day is coming, heated like an oven, which shall set them on fire. And all aliens and all workers of iniquity shall be like stubble. The day which is coming shall blaze upon them, saith the Lord Almighty, and of them neither root nor branch shall be left.

⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell them who have been invited, Behold I have prepared my dinner. My bullocks and my fatlings are killed and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast.

¹⁶ Whereupon he said to him, A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. ¹⁷ But when he sent out his servants at supper time, to say to them who were invited; Come, for all things are now ready;

¹⁹ Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world stand convicted before God.

²⁰ But who art thou, O man, who enterest into a dispute with God? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

⁵ Let your meekness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand:

¹² give thanks to the Father who hath fitted us for a portion of the inheritance of the saints in light;

¹⁰ Now the day of the Lord will come, as a thief at night, when the heavens with a crashing roar shall pass away, and the elements shall be dissolved by fire, and the earth, and all the works thereon, shall be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore as all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness, ¹² expecting, and eagerly desiring, the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens, all on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with intense heat,

¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven saying, Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God; ¹⁸ that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of generals, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them mounted on them and the flesh of all both freemen and slaves, both small and great.

⁵ A woman shall not wear what appertaineth to man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment; for every one who doth such things is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

²² Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, Bring out vestments for all the servants of Baal. And when the keeper of the wardrobe had brought them out,

³⁰ And his servants took him up mortally wounded at Mageddo and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Joachaz son of Josias and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead. ³¹ Joachaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Amital. She was a daughter of Jeremias of Lobna. ³² He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his forefathers had done. ³³ So when Pharao Nechao was at Rablaam in the land of Emath, he removed him from reigning in Jerusalem, and imposed as a fine on the land a hundred talents of silver and a hundred talents of gold; ³⁴ and having made Eliakim son of Josias, king of Juda, king over them in the room of his father Josias, Pharao Nechao changed his name to Joakim; and he took Joachaz and carried him to Egypt, and he died there.

¹² Joachim king of Juda, went out to the king of Babylon, he and his servants and his mother and his chiefs and his officers; and the king of Babylon in the eighth year of his reign, took him, ¹³ and carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord.

⁶ they took the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Reblatha, and he pronounced sentence against him. ⁷ And when he had slain his sons before his eyes, he put out the eyes of Sedekias and bound him with chains, and carried him to Babylon.

¹⁹ and out of the city he took one officer, who was chief commander of the warriors, and five principal men of them who attended in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the secretary of the general of the army; him who mustered the people of the land; and sixty chief men of the people of the country who were found in the city. ²⁰ These Nabuzardan the marshal took and carried them to the king of Babylon to Reblatha, ²¹ and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Reblatha in the land of Aimath. Thus was Juda carried from this land.

¹⁸ On that day the Lord will take away the finery of their attire, the cauls and the curls and the crescents, ¹⁹ the solitaire and the ornament of the brow, ²⁰ and the gorgeous wreathed tiar, and the necklaces and the bracelets, and the zone and the rings for the fingers, and the ornaments for the right arms, ²¹ and the earrings and the robes with purple borders, ²² and those the middle of which is purple, and the dresses worn at home, and the Laconian gauzes and cotton robes, ²³ and those of purple and scarlet and cotton, embroidered with gold and purple; and the summer sofas: ²⁴ and instead of perfumes there shall be ashes; and instead of a girdle thou shalt be girded with rushes; and instead of a golden headdress thou shalt have baldness, on the account of thy doings; and instead of the purple robe thou shalt gird on sackcloth.

¹² But it shall come to pass, when the Lord hath accomplished his whole work on mount Sion and Jerusalem; that I will cast a look on the stout heart; on the chief ruler of the Assyrians, and on the loftiness of the glory of his eyes.

²¹ When God shall bring his hand on the hosts of heaven, even upon the kings of this land;

⁷ That of thy children whom thou shalt beget, they will take some and make them eunuchs in the house of the king of the Babylonians.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord respecting Sellem son of Josias, who reigned in the room of his father and who is gone from this place; he shall not return hither any more: ¹² but in the place to which I have transported him, there he shall die and this land he shall see no more. ¹³ With regard to him who is building himself a house, but not with righteousness, and lofty stories, but not with justice: he useth the service of his neighbour for nothing, and will not pay him his wages. ¹⁴ Thou hast built thyself a well proportioned house, lofty chambers well fitted with windows, and cieled with cedar and painted with vermillion. ¹⁵ Is it thy desire to be made king? because thou art instigated by thy father Achaz, are there not feasts? are there not entertainments? better were it for thee to execute judgment and justice. ¹⁶ They did not take cognisance, they did not administer justice to the lowly, nor decide righteously the cause of the needy, is not this owing to thy not knowing me? saith the Lord. ¹⁷ Behold thine eyes are not good, neither is thy heart; but they are bent upon thine inordinate desires and on the shedding of innocent blood, and on injustice, and on murder; that thou mayst perpetrate these things. ¹⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord respecting Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man, they shall not utter for him the lamentation "Alas Brother" nor shall they bewail him saying, "Alas lord" ¹⁹ He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; being blotted out he shall be cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁴ as I live saith the Lord though Jechonias may be made a son of Joakim, a king of Juda, a signet on my right hand I will drag thee out thence ²⁵ and deliver thee into the hands of them who seek thy life; of them whose countenance thou dreadest; into the hands of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ And I will cast out thee and the mother who brought thee forth, into a land where thou wast not born, and there thou shalt die. ²⁷ Into the land which their souls long for they shall not return. ²⁸ Jechonias is dishonoured like a vessel which is useless, because he is hurled away and cast into a land which he knew not. ²⁹ O earth, earth, hear a word of the Lord! ³⁰ record the chieftain himself as a man of low rank, exiled by the voice of a herald; for no increase from his seed shall sit on the throne of David, nor any more be chief in Juda.

⁶ [Omitted] ⁷ [Omitted]

¹⁵ And before the suet was burned, the priest's servant would come, and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give me flesh to roast for the priest, for I will not take boiled flesh from thee out of the kettle. ¹⁶ And if the man who was sacrificing said, Let the suet first be burned according to the ritual, then take for thyself any piece thy soul desireth; he would say, No; thou shalt give it me now. And if not; I will take it by force.

⁵ For this cause the priests of Dagon, and every one who goeth into the temple of Dagon, do not, even at this day, tread on the threshold of the temple of Dagon, at Azotus, but step over it.

²⁰ Now when he had gone a little way from him, Giezi the servant of Elisha said, Behold my master hath spared Naiman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hand what he brought. As the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and receive something from him. ²¹ So Giezi went after Naiman with all speed. And when Naiman saw him running after 22 him, he turned about from his chariot to meet him. And he said, Peace! ²² My master hath sent me saying, Behold there are just come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give, I pray thee for them a talent of silver and two suits of apparel. ²³ To which he replied, Take two talents of silver. So he took two talents of silver, in two bags, and two suits of raiment and laid them on two of his servants and they carried them before him. ²⁴ And when he came to a dark place, he took them from the hands of his servants, and laid them up in the house. And when he had dismissed the men, ²⁵ he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Whence comest thou, Giezi? To which he replied, Thy servant hath not gone any where. ²⁶ And Elisha said to him, My heart indeed did not go with thee, when the man turned about from his chariot to meet thee. Now thou hast received silver; and thou hast now received the apparel and olive yards and vine yards, and flocks and herds and men servants, and maid servants; ²⁷ but the leprosy of Naiman shall cleave to thee, and thy seed forever. So he went out from his presence, leprous like snow.

¹⁵ those daily allowances with which they who were before me had loaded them, and which they had exacted from them in bread and wine, to the amount at least of forty didrachms of silver. They indeed who had been displaced, tyrannised over the people; but as for me I did not do so; because I feared God.

¹² When a king hearkeneth to falsehood, all under him are transgressors.

¹⁰ Now did she not know things which will be before her? Saith the Lord. They are treasuring up injustice and misery in their countries.

¹⁹ When her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them to the forum, before the magistrates.

⁷ So when David took the fortress, Zion, the same is the city of David,

⁹ And David made his abode in the fort, so it was called the city of David. And David built the city, around the citadel and his own house.

¹⁴ Accordingly Chelkias the priest went with Achikam and Achobar and Sapphan and Asaias to Olda the prophetess the mother of Sellem son of Thekuan, son of Aras the keeper of the wardrobe. Now she dwelt at Jerusalem in the Masena. And when they had spoken to her,

¹ At length Solomon began building the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, on mount Amoria, where the Lord appeared to his father David; in the place which David had prepared at the threshing floor of Orna, the Jebusite.

²² And when the Lord had saved Ezekias, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hands of Sennacherim, king of Assur, and out of the hand of all men, and had given them rest all around,

¹⁴ Now after these things he built a wall without the city of David, from the south west, fronting the south in the valley and along the street leading from the fish gate round to Opel, and raised it very high, and appointed military officers in all the walled cities of Juda.

³ And the fish gate was built by the sons of Asana. Having covered it, they covered also the doors thereof and the locks and bars thereof.

⁴ Therefore I said, "Let me alone; let me weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for this distress of the daughter of my people. ⁵ For it is a day of trouble and destruction and treading down. There is indeed some wandering from the Lord of Hosts; in the valley of Sion they are wandering about; from the least to the greatest they are wandering on the mountains.

¹¹ When dying they will groan like a bear and mourn like a dove; and at their departing say, "We waited for judgment and there is none: and as for safety, it is far from us.

¹⁹ [p] My bowels! my bowels are pained! and every sensation of my heart. My soul throbbeth! my heart is torn. I cannot keep silence; for my soul hath heard the trumpet's sound; the din of war and of distress. ²⁰ It calleth for contrition; for the whole land is in deep distress. My tent is suddenly whelmed in ruin; my curtains are rent to pieces. How long shall I see men fleeing! ²¹ How long hear the sound of trumpets!

³¹ For I have heard a sound as of one in labour; of thy groan, as of one who beareth her first child. [J] The voice of the daughter of Sion shall be weak: and she shall let her hands hang down. [p] Woe is me! for my soul fainteth on account of the slain.

² And in the eleventh year of Sedekias in the fourth month on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made into the city;

³ In that day indeed the vaulted cielings of this temple shall resound with cries of Woe, saith the Lord, Lord. Multitudes are fallen every where, I will bring on silence.

⁷ Be struck with awe, at the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near at hand. Because the Lord hath prepared his sacrifice and hallowed his guests;

¹⁵ that day will be a mighty day of wrath; a day of tribulation and distress: a day of wasting and desolation; a day of gloom and darkness; a day of clouds and thick darkness;

³¹ and after him Melchia son of Sarephi had as far as Bethan-nathanim; and the haberdashers were over against the Maphekad and as far as the ascent of the curve; ³² and the brasiers and the haberdashers had between that and the sheep gate.

⁸ For these things gird on sackcloth; wail and utter lamentation. Because the wrath of the Lord is not turned away from you,

³⁴ Raise the mournful cry, ye shepherds; utter loud moans and lamentations, ye rams of the flock; for the days for your slaughter are accomplished, and ye shall fall like choice rams;

¹² Scream, son of man, and raise the mournful cry; for it is come among my people; it is among all the leaders of Israel. They shall dwell near the sword. It is among my people. Therefore give it a clap of applause with thy hand.

⁶ For this cause behold they are going from the misery of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them and Machmas shall bury them. As for their silver, destruction shall inherit it. Thorns shall be in their habitations.

⁷ As for Chanaan, in his hand is a deceitful balance. He loved to tyrannise. ⁸ Ephraim indeed said, "But I am rich, I have found a rest for myself." Because of the iniquities which he hath committed, none of his labours shall turn to account.

⁵ Awake ye drunkard, from your wine and weep. Sing a mournful song all ye who drink wine to drunkenness; for joy and gladness are gone from your mouth.

¹³ gird yourselves, ye priests, and lament bitterly: sing the song of Woe, ye who minister at the altar; go in and sleep in sackcloth, ye ministers of God. Because sacrifice and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

² Raise the mournful cry, pine tree, since the cedar is fallen, because the mighty are in great distress. Howl ye oaks of Basan, because the thick planted forest is rooted up. ³ A sound of shepherds singing the song of Woe, because their greatness is involved in distress; a sound of lions roaring, because the swelling of the Jordan hath distressed them.

¹⁶ and said to them who sold doves, Take these things hence. Make not the house of my father a house of merchandize.

¹ Come, now, ye rich; weep, and raise a mournful cry for the miseries which are coming upon you.

¹¹ The merchants of the earth also will weep and mourn for her; because no one any more buyeth their merchandize ¹² the merchandize of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls; and of cotton and purple and silk and scarlet; and every sort of odoriferous wood and the various wares of ivory and of most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble, ¹³ and cinnamon and frankincense and myrrh and incense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep and horses and chariots and the bodies and souls of men. ¹⁴ Even the autumnal fruits, thy soul's desire are gone from thee; and all these delicious and all those splendid things are gone from thee and thou shalt find them no more. ¹⁵ The venders of these things who have been enriched by her will stand far off for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing ¹⁶ and saying, Alas! Alas! the great city! she that was clothed with cotton and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! ¹⁷ for in one hour what a mass of wealth is laid waste! And every one sailing to the place, both mariners and traffickers by sea stood afar off ¹⁸ and screamed when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city was like this great city?

¹⁵ What is the Almighty, that we should serve him: and what the advantage, that we should wait on him?

¹¹ For he said in his heart God hath forgotten; He hath turned his face from ever seeing. ¹² Arise, Lord God, let thy hand be lifted up; Forget not the oppressed. ¹³ Why hath the wicked provoked God?; For he said in his heart, He will not make inquisition.

¹ For the conclusion. A Psalm by David. The fool said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt and by their works abominable: there is none who doeth good. No not one.

⁷ and said, The Lord cannot see, nor can the God of Jacob discern.

¹⁹ who say, "Let what he is to do approach speedily that we may see; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come that we may know it."

⁵ They are silver which can be turned in a lathe; they cannot walk.

¹⁶ Behold I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them: and after that I will send many hunters and they shall hunt them, on every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. ¹⁷ Because Mine eyes are on all their ways, and their iniquities are not hid from Mine eyes,

¹¹ Moab enjoyed rest from his youth and trusted in his glory; he hath not been decanted from vessel to vessel; and into banishment he hath never gone. Therefore his taste remaineth in him and his flavour is not lost:

¹² And he said to me, Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing, every one of them in this hidden apartment of theirs? For they said, The Lord doth not see. The Lord hath forsaken this land.

⁹ Whereupon he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Juda is exceeding great. Because the land is filled with many peoples and the city is filled with iniquity and impurity; and because they said, the Lord hath forsaken this land; the Lord doth not see;

¹ Alas for them who despise Sion and have put their trust in the mount of Samaria. They have gathered as a vintage the governments of nations and gone in

¹ I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, Smite the propitiatory and let the porches be shaken, and cut them down on the heads of them all; and those of them who are left I will slay with the sword. Such of them as flee shall not get away; and such of them as escape shall not be saved. ² Though they hide themselves in the mansion of the dead, thence my hand will drag them up. And though they climb up to heaven, thence I will bring them down. ³ Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will there search them out and take them. And should they go down from my sight into the depths of the sea, I will there give orders to the dragon and he will bite them.

⁶ How Esau hath been searched! are even his hidden stores left?

¹⁴ You say, "Vain is he who serveth God: and what advantage is it, that we have kept his charges. For though we have walked as supplicants before the Lord Almighty, ¹⁵ yet we now call strangers happy; and all that do unlawful things are built up. Though they opposed God; yet they are saved."

⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

²³ and I will slay her children with death; and all the congregations shall know, that I am the searcher of reins and hearts, and will give to every one of you according to your works.

³⁰ Thou wilt take a wife, and another man shall have her. Thou wilt build a house, but shall not dwell therein. Thou wilt plant a vineyard, but shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

³⁹ thou shalt plant a vineyard and dress it; but shalt not press out wine, nor regale thyself from it; for worms shall eat it up.

⁵¹ And it shall devour the increase of thy cattle, and the products of thy land, so as not to leave thee corn, wine, oil, herds or flocks, until it hath destroyed thee,

⁸ Woe unto them who join house to house, and who are bringing field nearer to field, that they may take something from their neighbour. Are you alone to dwell in the land? ⁹ For these things have come to the ears of the Lord of Hosts. For though there be many houses they shall be for desolation; though great and fair, there shall be no inhabitants therein.

¹ Behold the Lord is about to destroy this inhabited land! He will lay it waste and uncover the face thereof and scatter abroad them who dwell therein. ² And it shall be as with the people so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master; as with the maid, so with the mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the debtor, so with the creditor. ³ With destruction the land will be destroyed, and with spoiling this land will be ransacked: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken this.

²¹ And they shall build houses and dwell therein: and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruits thereof. ²² They shall not build, and others inhabit: nor shall they plant and others eat: for according to the days of the tree of that life, shall be the days of this my people: for they shall wear out the works of their toils.

⁷ A lion has gone up from his den: a destroyer of nations hath begun his march and is come from his place to make this land a desolation; and the cities shall be demolished so as to be uninhabitable.

²⁰ It calleth for contrition; for the whole land is in deep distress. My tent is suddenly whelmed in ruin; my curtains are rent to pieces. How long shall I see men fleeing!

¹⁷ and they shall devour your harvest and your bread; and they shall devour your sons and your daughters; and they shall devour your flocks and your herds; and they shall devour your vineyards and fig trees and olive orchards, and smite with the sword your fortified cities, in which you trusted.

¹¹ I will indeed deliver up Jerusalem to captivity and make it a den for jackals; and the cities of Juda an uninhabitable desolation.

¹⁹ [p] Because a sound of wailing is heard in Sion; "Oh how wretched we are! how greatly confounded because we have left our land, and abandoned our habitations:"

¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have defiled my portion, they have made my beloved portion a trackless desert: ¹¹ it is given up to total destruction. On my account the whole land is utterly desolated: because there is not a man who layeth this to heart, ¹² against every outlet by the wilderness destroyers are come: because the sword of the Lord devoureth from one end of the land to the other; there is no peace for any flesh. ¹³ Sow wheat and reap brambles. Their portions shall not profit them. Be ashamed of your boasting, of reproaches against the Lord.

¹³ Thy treasures indeed I will give for a spoil in all thy borders, as a ransom for all thy sins;

²¹ even into the hand of strangers I will deliver it for plunder, and to be a spoil for the ravagers of the earth; and they shall defile it.

³¹ therefore I poured out my wrath upon it, to destroy it utterly with the fire of mine indignation. Their ways I have requited on their heads, saith the Lord, Lord.

¹¹ therefore because they have beaten the poor with their fists, though you had received from them choice gifts; you have built houses of hewn stone; but in them you shall not dwell; you have planted lovely vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine thereof.

¹² therefore because of you, Sion shall be ploughed like a field; and Jerusalem shall be like a temporary building for summer fruits; and the mountain of the house shall be for a grove of a forest.

¹⁵ Thou shalt sow but thou shalt not reap. Thou shalt press the olive, but shalt not anoint thyself with oil. You shall make wine, but shall not drink it. And the ritual services of my people shall be utterly destroyed.

⁹ And I will punish publicly before the gates, on that day, them who fill the house of the Lord their God with impiety and deceit.

⁴ because Esebon and Eleale have screamed: even to Jassa their voice hath been heard; therefore the lungs of Moab utter lowings; her soul will be afflicted.

⁷ then behold with the dread of you they shall be terrified; they, of whom you have been afraid, will for fear of you raise a grievous cry. Messengers will be sent weeping bitterly, suing for peace.

⁶ a sound of screaming from the city! a sound from the temple! the voice of the Lord rendering a recompense to his adversaries!

³⁶ Hark! a sound of the shepherds' screaming! and a doleful bleating of the sheep and the rams! For the Lord hath utterly destroyed their pastures

⁷ [J] It is because that great day is come which is unparalleled. It is indeed a distressful time to Jacob, but by this he shall be saved.

⁴¹ Karioth is taken and the strong holds are surprised;

⁶ [9] Mine eye shall not spare, nor will I have compassion. Because I will retribute to thee thy ways, when thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; therefore thou shalt know that it is I the Lord who smite thee. ⁷ [3] Now the end is upon thee. I will send it against thee, and punish thee for thy ways and retribute to thee all thine abominations.

¹² The end is come. Behold the day! let not him who purchaseth rejoice, nor him who selleth, mourn;

²³ Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord, I will change this parable; and the house of Israel shall no more use it; for thou shalt say to them, The days are at hand and the word of every vision.

³ for the day of the Lord is near. A cloudy day! it shall be the end of nations.

¹⁵ "Ah me! Ah me! Ah me! for the day." For the day of the Lord is at hand; and it will come like destruction on destruction.

¹ Blow the trumpet in Sion; make proclamation on my holy mountain. And let all the inhabitants of the land be alarmed. For the day of the Lord is approaching; for it is near;

¹⁶ and the Lord will utter a shout from Sion, and from Jerusalem he will send forth his voice; and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken: but the Lord will spare his people and strengthen the sons of Israel.

² And he said, Amos, what dost thou see? And when I said, A fowler's basket, the Lord said to me, The end is come upon my people Israel. I will no more permit them to transgress.

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be a sound of shouting from the gate of the warriors, and a doleful lamentation from the second gate, and a great crashing from the hills.

⁵ Now behold I will send you Elias the Thesbite before that great and awful day of the Lord cometh;

²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and illustrious day of the Lord.

¹⁶ that the Lord himself, with an authoritative command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall be raised first;

²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth, but he hath now announced, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth but the heaven also."

⁹ Repine not, brethren, against one another, that you may not be condemned. Behold the judge is at the door.

³ Indeed, with insatiable covetousness, they will, with smooth words, make merchandize of you. But the judgment prepared of old for them is not idle, nor is their destruction slumbering.

¹⁵ and the kings of the earth and the nobles and the rich and the chief commanders and the under officers and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ saying to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him who is sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of His wrath is come and who is able to stand?"

⁴ Let that night be darkness: let not the Lord from above regard it, nor splendour come upon it: ⁵ but let darkness and the shadow of death cover it: upon it let there come a thick darkness. May the day be execrated! ⁶ And as for that night, may a pitchy darkness sweep it away! May that never come into the days of the year; nor be numbered among the days of months. ⁷ But as for that night, may it be sorrow, and may there never come upon it gladness or mirth! ⁸ But let him curse it who curseth the day; him who is to attack the great sea monster.

⁵ For it is a day of trouble and destruction and treading down. There is indeed some wandering from the Lord of Hosts; in the valley of Sion they are wandering about; from the least to the greatest they are wandering on the mountains.

² a day of darkness and gloom; a day of clouds and thick darkness. Like dawn, there shall be poured out on the mountains a people numerous and powerful, the like of them hath never been, nor shall be any more to the years of all generations.

¹⁸ . And their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them, in the day of the indignation of the Lord. By the fire of his zeal the whole land shall be consumed, for he will bring speedy destruction on all the inhabitants of this land.

² before you become like a flitting flower; before the wrath of the Lord come upon you; before the day of the fierce anger of the Lord reach you.

²² Because these are days of vengeance that all which are written may be accomplished; ²³ alas therefore for the women with child and for them who give suck in those days; for there will be great distress in this land and wrath on this people.

⁵ Indeed according to this obduracy, and impenitent heart of thine thou art treasuring up for thyself wrath against a day of the wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

⁷ but the heavens and the earth which now exist are, by the same word, treasured up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment, and destruction of these impious men.

¹⁷ for the great day of His wrath is come and who is able to stand?"

¹² Go round Sion, and encompass it: make proclamation in the towers thereof; ¹³ mark with attention its strength; and take a distinct view of its palaces: that you may tell another generation,

¹² For the day of the Lord of hosts is against every scorner and haughty man; and against every one high and lofty, and they shall be humbled: ¹³ even against every of those high towering cedars of Lebanon; and against every oak of Basan; ¹⁴ and against every lofty mountain; and against every hill that is high; ¹⁵ and against every stately tower; and against every high raised wall;

¹⁴ O rich city! houses wholly forsaken! They shall abandon city, riches, lovely houses; and until the age the villages shall be dens; the joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks,

¹⁰ They shall grope like blind men for a wall and feel about like men who have no eyes, and fall at midday as at midnight.

¹⁹ [p] My bowels! my bowels are pained! and every sensation of my heart. My soul throbbeth! my heart is torn. I cannot keep silence; for my soul hath heard the trumpet's sound; the din of war and of distress. ²⁰ It calleth for contrition; for the whole land is in deep distress. My tent is suddenly whelmed in ruin; my curtains are rent to pieces. How long shall I see men fleeing!

¹ Assume courage ye sons of Benjamin who are from the midst of Jerusalem, and give a signal with the trumpet at Thekoe; and on Bethacharma erect a standard. Because evils from the north are apparent, and a great destruction is begun,

¹⁶ From Dan we can hear the sound of the snorting of his horses; with the neighing of his cavalry the whole earth is shaken. [J] And on he will come and devour the land and the fulness thereof, the cities and them who dwell therein.

⁸ [p] Sound a trumpet on the mounts; raise a shout on the high places; proclaim in the house of On, Benjamin is confounded.

¹ Because they have transgressed my covenant, and have sinned against my law,

⁶ Shall a trumpet sound in a city and the people not be alarmed? Can there be in a city a calamity which the Lord hath not inflicted?

⁶ For lo! I am raising up the Chaldeans that bitter and hasty nation, which marcheth over the breadth of the earth, to possess dwellings which belong not to them. ⁷ He is terrible and illustrious; his judgment will be from himself, and from himself his prophesy will proceed. ⁸ His horses can out leap leopards and are swifter than the lynxes of Arabia. When his horsemen have mounted, they will rush impetuously from afar, and will fly like an eagle, eager for prey. ⁹ Destruction will come on the wicked who set themselves against him; and he will gather captives like the sand. ¹⁰ He indeed will riot in kings; and petty princes will be his scorn. Of every fortress he will make a scoff and will raise a mount and take it.

⁶ He stood and the earth was shaken: he looked, and nations melted away: the mountains were violently convulsed, the everlasting hills melted.

²⁸ The Lord smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart, ²⁹ so that thou mayst grope about at noon day, as a blind man gropeth in darkness; and let him not prosper thy ways, so thou shalt then be injured, and spoiled continually, and there will be none to help thee.

³³ and he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses; for they trampled upon her. ³⁴ And when he had gone in and had eaten and drunk he said, Look, I pray you, for that cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter. ³⁵ But when they went out to bury her and found nothing of her but only the scull and the feet and the palms of the hands, ³⁶ they returned and told him, whereupon he said, This is the word of the Lord which he spoke by the ministry of Elias the Thesbite, In the field of Jezrael the dogs shall devour the flesh of Jezabel; ³⁷ and the carcase of Jezabel shall be like dung on the ground in the field of Jezrael, that they may not say, Here lieth Jezabel.

² They have given the carcasses of thy servants to be meat for the birds of the air; the flesh of thy saints, to the wild beasts of the earth. ³ They have poured out their blood like water round Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

¹⁰ They were utterly cut off at Aendor: they became as dung for the ground;

⁵ As for the land, it transgressed by means of its inhabitants. Because they transgressed the law, and changed the institutions; the everlasting covenant, ⁶ therefore a curse devoureth the land. Because they who dwell therein have sinned, therefore the inhabitants of the land shall be distressed, and few are the men who shall be left.

¹⁰ for the Lord hath drenched you with a spirit of stupefaction, and will close up the eyes of them and of their prophets and their rulers. As for your seers of hidden things,

¹ Thus saith the Lord, Of what sort was the bill of your mother's divorce with which I divorced her? Or to what creditor have I sold you? Behold you were sold for your transgressions; and for your iniquities I divorced your mother.

⁹ Therefore judgment is far from them, and saving mercy shall not overtake them. When they were waiting for light, darkness came upon them, expecting a blaze of light they walked in obscurity. ¹⁰ They shall grope like blind men for a wall and feel about like men who have no eyes, and fall at midday as at midnight.

¹² For our manifold iniquity is before thee; and our sins are risen up against us: for our iniquities are in us, and we know our transgressions. ¹³ We have sinned: we have lied, and turned back from following our God; we have spoken things unjust, and have been disobedient; we have conceived and meditated from our heart lying words, ¹⁴ we have indeed turned judgment backward, therefore saving mercy standeth aloof." [p] Because truth was destroyed in their ways and; they could not walk in straight paths; ¹⁵ and truth was removed and they substituted opinion in place of knowledge, therefore the Lord took a view, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

¹⁹ Let this apostacy of thine correct thee. And thy wickedness work conviction in thee. And know and see how bitter a thing it is to forsake me, saith the Lord thy God.

¹⁸ thy ways and thy devices have done these things to thee. It is owing to thy wickedness that they are bitter; that they have reached thy very heart.

²¹ For death is gone up through your windows: it is come into your land, to destroy infants at home and young men in the streets: ²² and the carcasses of the men shall be for a spectacle on the open field throughout your land, like grass after a mower and there will be none to gather.

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord, Behold I am about to subvert with affliction the inhabitants of this land, that the stroke may reach thee.

³ For I will send against them four kinds of avengers, saith the Lord, the sword to slay; and the dogs to tear; and the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the air to devour and destroy.

⁴ by a direful death they shall die; they shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall be for a spectacle on the face of the earth; they shall be for the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the air. By the sword they shall fall, and by famine they shall be consumed. ⁵ Thus saith the Lord: Join not in their funeral entertainments; go not to make lamentation nor bewail them. ⁶ Since I have taken away My peace from this people, no lamentation shall be made for them; nor shall any cut themselves nor be shaved.

²¹ For this cause deliver up their sons to famine and give them up in multitudes to the sword. Let their wives become childless and widows; and the husbands be cut off by pestilence and their young men fall by the sword in battle.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became unstable as a wave. By all that honoured her she hath been humbled, for they saw her nakedness, while she sighing turned away her face.

¹⁴ He hath kept a watch on my transgressions. They are wreathed round my hands. They have reached up to my neck. My strength is enfeebled. For into my hands the Lord hath sent pains. I cannot stand.

¹⁸ [s] The Lord is righteous; for against his express commandment I rebelled. Hear I beseech you all ye peoples and behold my sorrow! my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

²¹ On the high way lie the youth and the elder. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity; with sword and with famine thou hast slain; in the day of thine anger thou hast slaughtered and hast not spared.

¹³ Because of the sins of her prophets; the iniquities of her priests; of them who were shedding innocent blood, in the midst of her, ¹⁴ [her watchmen shuddered in the streets, they were polluted with blood, as they could not but have touched their clothes. ¹⁵ "Stand off from the unclean." Call to them "Stand off! Stand off! touch not" because they had been touched they shuddered.] Say among the nations, Let them no longer sojourn there.

¹⁶ Our crown is fallen from our head; alas for us! for we have sinned. ¹⁷ Because of this, grief is come upon us; our heart is full of sorrow: because of this, our eyes are dim.

²⁵ Its princes in the midst of it were like roaring lions, ravening prey, devouring souls by oppression, yet receiving honours; and thy widows were multiplied in the midst of thee. ²⁶ Its priests also despised my law and profaned my holy things; between what was holy and what was profane they made no difference, nor did they distinguish between the unclean and the clean. And from my sabbaths they hid their eyes and I was profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Its chiefs in the midst of it were like wolves, ravening prey, to the shedding of innocent blood, that they may glut their greediness. ²⁸ They shall fall together with its prophets who anointed them, seeing vanities, prophesying lies, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Though the Lord did not speak, ²⁹ crushing by usurped authority the people of the land, and ravening prey, oppressing the poor and needy, and paying no regard to strangers to the administration of justice. ³⁰ Though I sought among them for a man of integrity and for one who stood uprightly before me in the time of indignation that I might utterly destroy it, yet I found none: ³¹ therefore I poured out my wrath upon it, to destroy it utterly with the fire of mine indignation. Their ways I have requited on their heads, saith the Lord, Lord.

⁵ we have committed iniquity; we have transgressed and apostatised and turned away from thy commandments, and from thy judgments, ⁶ and have not hearkened to thy servants the prophets who spoke in thy name to our kings and our chiefs and our fathers and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To thee, Lord, belongeth righteousness; but to us confusion of face as at this day; to the man Juda and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel; and to those near and to them far off, in every land where thou hast scattered them for their breach of covenant of which they have been guilty. ⁸ In thee, Lord, is our righteousness. Though to us belongeth confusion of face; to our kings, and our chiefs and our fathers, who have sinned against thee: ⁹ with the Lord our God are tender mercies and forgivenesses. Because we apostatised ¹⁰ and did not hearken to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws which he set before us by the ministry of his servants the prophets; ¹¹ and all Israel transgressed thy law, and declined to hearken to thy voice; therefore upon us came the curse and the execration which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God. Because we sinned against him, ¹² therefore he confirmed his words which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us great evils, such as never happened under the whole heaven; as was the case in Jerusalem. ¹³ According to what is written in the law of Moses all those evils have come upon us. We indeed did not supplicate the favour of the Lord our God, by turning from all our wickedness, therefore that we might be made sensible of all thy truth, ¹⁴ the Lord hath indeed been watchful and hath brought upon us these things. For the Lord our God is righteous in every act of his which he hath done, and we have not hearkened to his voice. ¹⁵ Now, Lord our God, who broughtest thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and who hast made thyself a great name as at this day; we have sinned, we have committed iniquity. ¹⁶ Mercy, Lord, is thine in all things; let thy wrath, I beseech thee, be turned away and thine indignation from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain. Because we have sinned, therefore for our iniquities and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become an object of reproach among all those around us. ¹⁷ But now, Lord our God, hearken to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplications; and let thy face shine upon thy sanctuary which is desolate. For thine own sake, Lord, ¹⁸ incline, my God, thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and behold our desolation and that of thy city which is called by thy name. For we do not for our own righteousness present our piteous case before thee; but we cast ourselves upon thy tender mercies, Lord, which are many. ¹⁹ O Lord hear! O Lord, be appeased! Attend, Lord! Defer not, my God, for thine own sake! for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

¹⁰ I sent death among you by the way of Egypt, and slew your young men with the sword and gave up your horses to capture: and by your rage I involved your camps in fire. And when even for this you turned not to me, saith the Lord,

⁹ [p] Hear these things I beseech you, ye leaders of the house of Jacob, and ye remnant of the house of Israel, who abhor judgment and pervert all equity, ¹⁰ who are building up Sion with blood and Jerusalem with injustice. ¹¹ [J] Her rulers have judged for rewards; and her priests have given answers for hire; and her prophets have prophesied for silver, without waiting for the Lord, saying, "Is not the Lord among us? No evils shall come upon us:" ¹² therefore because of you, Sion shall be ploughed like a field; and Jerusalem shall be like a temporary building for summer fruits; and the mountain of the house shall be for a grove of a forest.

¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of blind. Now if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into a ditch.

⁴⁰ and some of the Pharisees who were with him, when they heard this, said, Are we blind? ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would not have had sin; but now you say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

⁷ What is the inference? That which Israel sought he did not obtain; but the chosen obtained it and the rest were blinded.

²⁵ For, that you, brethren, may not have too high an opinion of your selves, I would not have you ignorant of this secret, That a partial blindness hath come upon Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in,

⁴ with which the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the disbelieving, that the splendour of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is an image of God, may not shine upon them.

⁹ for he who is without these is blind, having closed his eyes, having contracted a forgetfulness of the purification of his past sins.

¹¹ But he who hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he is going, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.

¹⁷ because thou sayest, "I am rich and become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and a sword shall overtake and consume you. And your land shall be a waste, and your cities a desolation. ³⁴ And the land shall then enjoy its sabbaths all the time of its desolation. When you shall be in the land of your enemies, the land shall then rest; and the land shall keep those sabbaths, ³⁵ which it did not keep by your sabbaths when you dwelt therein.

²⁰ God will not be propitious to him, but most assuredly the anger of the Lord, and his indignation, will then be kindled against that man; and all the curses of this covenant, which are written in this book, shall cleave to him; and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will indeed separate him, from all the children of Israel, according to all the curses of this covenant, which are written in this book of the law. ²² And when the generations to come; your children who shall rise up after yon, and the stranger who may come from a far distant country, will say; when they shall see the plagues of that land, and the diseases thereof, which the Lord hath sent upon it; ²³ brimstone and burnt salt; when through the whole land there shall be no sowing; no natural productions, no verdure on it, a destruction like that of Sodom and Gomorra, Adama and Seboim, which the Lord overthrew with wrath and indignation; ²⁴ When all the nations shall say, Why hath the Lord dealt thus with this land? What hath occasioned this great fierceness of indignation? ²⁵ Then they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, ²⁶ and went and served strange gods, which they did not know, and which he had not arranged for them, ²⁷ therefore the Lord was provoked to wrath against this land, to bring upon it all the curses which are written in the book of the law; ²⁸ and the Lord rooted them out from their land, with wrath, and anger, and very great indignation, and cast them out into another land, as at this day.

¹⁷ I shall be provoked to wrath against them that day, and I will leave them, and turn away my face from them, and they shall be devoured. And when many evils and afflictions shall befal them, then will one say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have befallen me.

²¹ They have provoked me by what is not God; Have exasperated me with their idols; I therefore will provoke them by what is not a nation, By a foolish nation I will vex them. ²² Since a fire is kindled because of my wrath, It shall burn down to the lowest Hades; It shall consume the land, and the products thereof; It shall set on fire the foundations of mountains: ²³ I will assemble evils against them, And hurl my bolts at them. ²⁴ While they are wasting by famine, and voracious birds; The burning carbuncle also shall be incurable; I will send against them the teeth of wild beasts, With the venom of serpents, trailing on the ground. ²⁵ Abroad the sword shall bereave them of children, And in their chambers terror shall destroy. The youth shall perish with the young virgin, The sucking infant with the venerable sage.

²² Roboam did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him with all those things which their fathers had done, with all the sins which they had committed.

³⁰ Because the wicked is reserved for a day of destruction: let them be carried to prison for the day of his indignation.

⁶ Some put confidence in their power: and some boast of the abundance of their wealth. ⁷ A brother is not redeemed. Is a man to redeem himself? ⁸ He cannot give to God an atonement for himself; and the price for the redemption of his life: ⁹ Though he laboured for the age that he may live to the end. Shall he therefore not see corruption?

⁵ For this cause God will utterly destroy thee; tear thee up and hurl thee from thy dwelling; even thy rooted stock out of the land of the living. ⁶ The righteous will see indeed and be afraid. And they will laugh at him and say, ⁷ "Behold the man who made not God his strength: and trusted in the abundance of his wealth; and strengthened himself in his vanity!

⁵⁸ They provoked him with their mounts, and with their graven images moved him to jealousy.

⁵ How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire forever?

⁴ [Omitted]

¹¹ A rich man's wealth is a strong city, and the glory of it casteth a great shadow.

²⁴ Therefore thus saith the sovereign Lord of hosts. "Alas for the rulers of Israel; for my wrath against these adversaries shall not abate. On these enemies of mine I will execute judgment:

²⁰ For on that day men will cast to the bats their abominations both of silver and gold, which they made to worship vanities; ²¹ that they may go into holes of the flinty rock: nay into the very clefts of the rock, from the tremendous presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise to crush the land.

¹ Behold the Lord is about to destroy this inhabited land! He will lay it waste and uncover the face thereof and scatter abroad them who dwell therein. ² And it shall be as with the people so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master; as with the maid, so with the mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the debtor, so with the creditor. ³ With destruction the land will be destroyed, and with spoiling this land will be ransacked: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken this. ⁴ The land mourned and this empire is destroyed; the lofty people of the land mourned. ⁵ As for the land, it transgressed by means of its inhabitants. Because they transgressed the law, and changed the institutions; the everlasting covenant, ⁶ therefore a curse devoureth the land. Because they who dwell therein have sinned, therefore the inhabitants of the land shall be distressed, and few are the men who shall be left. ⁷ The wine will mourn, the vineyard will mourn, and all that were merry hearted will sigh. ⁸ The mirth of the tabrets hath ceased, the sound of the kithara is no more. ⁹ They are confounded: they have drunk no wine. The palm wine was bitter to them who drank it. ¹⁰ Every city is desolated: the houses will be shut up that none may enter. ¹¹ Raise the mournful cry every where for the wine. A stop is put to all the joy of the land; all the joy of the land is gone. ¹² The cities will be left desolate, and the houses being forsaken will be destroyed.

²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold my anger and my fury is poured upon this place and on these men; and on the cattle and on every tree of their field and on all the products of the ground, and it shall burn and shall not be quenched.

³⁴ And I will cause to cease from the cities of Juda and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness; the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the whole land shall be a desolation."

²³ [J] Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom: nor the mighty man boast of his strength; neither let the rich man boast of his riches: ²⁴ but let him who boasteth, boast of this only, that he understandeth and knoweth, that I am the Lord, who exercise mercy and judgment and justice on the earth: that in these things is my delight, saith the Lord.

³ And he stretched forth the similitude of a hand and took hold of me by the crown of the head and a blast of wind lifted me up between heaven and earth, and in a vision of God, brought me to Jerusalem, to the vestibule of the gate facing the north, where was the pillar of the possessor. ⁴ And behold the glory of the Lord God of Israel was there, such in appearance as I saw in the plain. ⁵ And he said to me, Son of man, look up with thine eyes towards the north. So I looked up with mine eyes towards the north, and behold from the north to the gate facing the east.

³⁸ And I will punish thee with the punishment of an adulteress, and involve thee in the blood of wrath and jealousy;

⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord, Lord, In the fire of my wrath I have spoken against these remnants of nations and against all Idumea: Because they have with joy distributed this land of mine among themselves for a possession, undervaluing lives that you might be a waste for prey; ⁶ therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills and to the vales and forests,

² Let there be a total failure from the face of this land, saith the Lord. ³ Let man and beast perish. Let the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea perish. As for the wicked, they shall be without strength; and I will remove transgressions from the face of this land, saith the Lord.

¹¹ Raise the song of Woe, ye who inhabit the stormed city; because all the people are like Chanaan. And they who were elated with silver are to be all cut off.

⁸ [J] On that very account, wait thou for me, saith the Lord, until the day of my resurrection for a testimony. For this judgment of mine is for the assemblies of nations; to admit kings, to pour out all the fury of my wrath on them. For by the fire of my zeal all this land shall be utterly destroyed,

²⁶ For what will a man be profited, if he should gain the whole world, and be punished with the forfeit of his life? Or, what will not a man give as a ransom for his life?

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul; Soul, thou hast many good things laid up in store for many years: take thine ease; eat; drink; and be joyful. ²⁰ Whereupon God said to him; Fool, this very night this soul of thine will be demanded of thee. Whose then will those things be which thou hast provided? ²¹ Thus let every one [say] to himself who is heaping up treasure and is not rich for God.

²² At length this poor man died, and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man died also, and was buried. ²³ And in the mansion of the dead having lifted up his eyes, being in torment, he seeth Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.

²² Are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?