Amos 5 Cross References - LEB

¹ Hear this word that I am going to intone over you as a lament, O house of Israel! ² Virgin Israel has fallen and will not rise again. She is deserted on her land; there is no one to raise her up. ³ For thus says my Lord Yahweh, "The city that marches out with a thousand will only have a hundred left. And the one that marches out with a hundred will only have ten left for the house of Israel." ⁴ For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, "Seek me so that you may live." ⁵ But do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile and Bethel will come to disaster." ⁶ Seek Yahweh so that you may live, so that he will not break out like a fire against the house of Joseph! And it will devour, _⌊with none to quench_⌋* it for Bethel. ⁷ Ah, you who turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground! ⁸ The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day into night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name! ⁹ The one who makes destruction flash upon the fierce, _⌊so that_⌋* destruction comes upon the fortification. ¹⁰ They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly. ¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine. ¹² For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous, you foes of the righteous, those who take a bribe, and _⌊those who_⌋* push aside the poor ones in the gate! ¹³ Therefore, whoever has insight will keep silent in that time, for it is a time of evil. ¹⁴ Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. ¹⁵ Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. ¹⁶ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all of the public squares there will be wailing, and in all of the streets they will say, 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing, to those who are skilled in lamentation. ¹⁷ And in all of the vineyards there will be wailing, because I will pass in your midst," says Yahweh. ¹⁸ Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why is this for you the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light! ¹⁹ It will be as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall and a snake bit him. ²⁰ Is not the day of Yahweh darkness and not light, and pitch dark with no brightness in it? ²¹ "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. ²² Yes, even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals. ²³ Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps! ²⁴ But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. ²⁵ Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ²⁶ And you will take up Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. ²⁷ And I will deport you beyond Damascus," says Yahweh—the God of hosts is his name.

²⁹ Shear your hair and throw it* away, and lift up a lament on the barren heights, for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'

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

¹⁷ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come, and for the skillful women, so that they come.

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

¹ "And you, raise a lament about* the leaders of Israel,

¹⁴ And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and there was not in it _⌊a strong branch_⌋,* a scepter for ruling.'"
This is a lament, and _⌊it will be used as a lament_⌋.*

¹⁷ And they will raise a lament over you, and they will say to you,
'How you have been lost who was inhabited from* the seas; the city that was praised, that was strong. It is located on the sea, and its inhabitants imposed their terror _⌊on all of its inhabitants_⌋.*

² "And you, son of man,* raise a lament against Tyre.

²⁷ Your wealth and your merchandise, your wares, your mariners, and your seamen, your shipwrights* and the barterers of your wares and all of _⌊your soldiers_⌋* who are in you, along* with all of your crew who are in the midst of you, they will fall in the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall. ²⁸ At the sound of the shout* of your seamen, the pasturelands will shake. ²⁹ And they will go down from their ships, all of those holding an oar, mariners, all of the seamen of the sea will stand on the land, ³⁰ and they will lament* over you with their voice, and they will cry out* bitterly, and they will throw* dust on their heads, and they will roll* in the dust. ³¹ _⌊They will shave themselves bald for your sake_⌋,* and they will dress* themselves in sackcloth, and they will weep* over you with a bitterness of soul* and with bitter wailing. ³² And they will raise* over you with their wailing a lament, and they will chant* a lament over you: 'Who is like Tyre, like this destruction in the midst of the sea?'

¹² "Son of man,* raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and you must say to him, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"You were a perfect model of* an example, full of wisdom and perfect of beauty.

² "Son of man,* raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him,
'With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself, and you are like the sea monster in the seas, and you thrash about in your rivers, and you make water turbid with your feet, and you make your rivers muddy.

¹⁶ _⌊This is_⌋* a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters of the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

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

¹ Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who live on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, "Bring something so that we may drink!"

¹⁶ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all of the public squares there will be wailing, and in all of the streets they will say, 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing, to those who are skilled in lamentation.

⁴ In that day they will raise a proverb against you, and will wail a bitter wailing, saying, "We are utterly ruined; he exchanges the portion of my people. How he removes it from me; he apportions our field to an apostate."

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

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal.

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

²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors.* Let them not rise and take possession of the earth or fill up the face of the world with cities."

²⁰ The earth staggers to and fro like the drunkard, and it sways like a hut, and its transgression is heavy upon it, and it falls and does not rise again.

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

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

¹⁷ Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Stand up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunk the goblet, the cup of staggering; you have drained it out. ¹⁸ There is no one who guides her among* all the children she has borne, and there is no one who grasps her by the hand among* all the children she raised.

²⁷ Those who say to the tree, 'You are my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their _⌊backs_⌋* to me, and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

²⁰ Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, for all of the land is devastated. Suddenly my tents are devastated, my tent curtains in a moment.

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

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

¹² For thus says Yahweh,
'Your injury is incurable, your wound is overcome by sickness. ¹³ There is no one who pleads your cause, for your boil there is no healing for you. ¹⁴ All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not care for you. I have struck you with the blow of an enemy, the punishment of the cruel, because of the greatness of your guilt, your sins are numerous.

⁴ I will again build you, and you will be built, O virgin Israel. You will again adorn yourself with your tambourines, and you will go forth in the dancing in a ring of the merrymakers.

³² And the arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there is no one who raises him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him."

⁶⁴ And you must say, 'Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, _⌊because of_⌋* the face of the disasters* that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.'" _⌊Thus far_⌋* the words of Jeremiah.

¹⁶ For these things, I am weeping, _⌊my eyes flow with tears_⌋;* because a comforter is far from me, one to restore my life. My sons are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. ¹⁷ Zion stretches out her hands; there is no one to comfort her. Yahweh has commanded against Jacob, that those surrounding him* should be his enemies; Jerusalem has become a defilement among them. ¹⁸ Yahweh is righteous; I have rebelled against _⌊his word_⌋.* Please hear, all the nations, And see my pain; My young women* and young men went into captivity. ¹⁹ I have called to my lovers, they themselves deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city when they sought food for themselves to revive their life.*

¹³ What can I say for you? What can I compare to you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your destruction is as vast as the sea; who can heal you?

³⁶ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers _⌊whom you were pleased about_⌋,* and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from _⌊everywhere_⌋,* and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness.

² He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.*

¹ Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel, for you have stumbled because of your sin.

² And then when they* finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, "O Lord Yahweh, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?" ³ Yahweh relented concerning this. "It will not be," said Yahweh. ⁴ This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, my Lord Yahweh was going to call for a legal case with fire, and it devoured the great deep and it ate up the plots of ground. ⁵ Then I said, "O Lord Yahweh, please stop! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?"

¹⁴ These are those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, 'By the life of your gods, O Dan,' and 'By the life of the way of Beersheba,' they will fall and they will not rise again."

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

²⁷ And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left _⌊few in number_⌋* among the nations _⌊to where Yahweh will lead you_⌋.*

⁶² And you shall remain _⌊only a few people_⌋* in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

⁹ If Yahweh of hosts had not left us survivors,* we would have been as few as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah.

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

²² For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return. Annihilation is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

¹⁶ But* I will spare from them _⌊a few men_⌋* from the sword, from the famine and from the plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will go, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

⁹ And then if ten people remain in one house, they too will die.

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

¹ "And then when all of these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have set _⌊before you_⌋* _⌊and you call them to mind_⌋* among the nations there where Yahweh your God has scattered you, ² and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* both you and your children,* with all your heart and with all your inner self,* ³ and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and _⌊he will again gather you together_⌋* from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there. ⁴ "Even if _⌊you are outcasts_⌋* at the end of the heavens, even from there Yahweh your God shall gather you, and from there _⌊he shall bring you back_⌋.* ⁵ And Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors* had taken possession of,* and he will make you successful, and he will make you more numerous than your ancestors.* ⁶ "And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self* _⌊so that you may live_⌋.* ⁷ And Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and _⌊on those who hate you_⌋,* on _⌊those who harassed you_⌋.* ⁸ And _⌊you will again listen_⌋* to the voice of Yahweh, and you will do all his commandments that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋.*

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

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

³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh. And he called for a fast through all Judah.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his ancestor.* And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherahs, the idols, and the images.

² Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind to see whether there is one who has insight, one who cares about God.

²⁶ The afflicted will eat and will be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise Yahweh. May your* heart live forever.

⁸ On your behalf my heart says, "Seek my face." Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.

³² The afflicted will see and rejoice. O God seekers, let your heart revive,*

³ Boast about his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. ⁴ Make supplication to Yahweh and his might; seek his face continually.

³ Extend your ear, and come to me! Listen so that* your soul may live, and I will _⌊make_⌋* an everlasting covenant with* you, the enduring proofs of _⌊the mercies shown to_⌋* David.

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

¹² Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. ¹³ When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart.

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

⁶ Seek Yahweh so that you may live, so that he will not break out like a fire against the house of Joseph! And it will devour, _⌊with none to quench_⌋* it for Bethel.

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

⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

³³ And he* planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, _⌊the everlasting God_⌋.*

³⁰ And I will destroy your high places, and I will cut down your incense altars, and I will place your corpses on your idols' corpses; and my inner self* shall abhor you. ³¹ And I will lay your cities in ruins, and I will lay waste your sanctuaries; and I shall not smell your sacrifices'* appeasing fragrance. ³² And I myself* will lay waste the land, and your enemies who are living in it shall be appalled over it.

⁴¹ You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be _⌊yours_⌋,* for they shall go into captivity.

¹⁶ He used to go on the circuit _⌊from year to year_⌋.* He went around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingship there."

²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked _⌊will be no more_⌋."*

¹⁰ Yahweh brings to nothing* the plan of nations; he frustrates* the intents of peoples.

¹⁰ _⌊Make a plan_⌋,* but it will be frustrated! Speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us!

²⁰ For the tyrant shall be no more, and the scoffer shall come to an end. And all those lying in wait for evil shall be cut off;

¹⁵ Even though you, O Israel, are playing the whore, do not let Judah become guilty; do not enter Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven; and do not swear, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋!"*

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

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

¹⁴ The tumult of war will rise up against your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel; on the day of war mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.* ¹⁵ So it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of the evil of your wickedness; at dawn, the king of Israel will be utterly destroyed.

¹¹ If in Gilead there is evil, surely they will come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, also their altars will be like stone heaps on furrows of the field.

⁴ "Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and _⌊multiply transgression_⌋!* Bring your sacrifices in the morning and your tithes on the _⌊third day_⌋.*

¹⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you* will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

²⁸ and the insignificant of the world, and the despised, God chose, the things that are not, in order that he might abolish the things that are,

⁶ Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing,

¹⁷ because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!"
And every shipmaster and _⌊every seafarer_⌋* and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood _⌊far off_⌋*

⁸ When Israel saw the sons of Joseph he said, "Who are these?" ⁹ Then Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons whom God has given me here." And he said, "Please bring them to me that I may bless them." ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim* on account of old age; he was not able to see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, "I did not expect to see your face and behold, God has also shown me your offspring." ¹² Then Joseph removed them from his knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim at his right to the left of Israel, and Manasseh at his left to the right of Israel. And he brought them near to him. ¹⁴ And Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim (now he was the younger), and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said,
"The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me _⌊all my life_⌋* unto this day, ¹⁶ The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated,* and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth. ¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, he was displeased. And he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from the head of Ephraim over to the head of Manasseh. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; because this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand upon his head." ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, "I know, my son; I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but his younger brother shall be greater than him, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations." ²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying,
Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'"
So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

⁶ " 'If a fire is started and finds thorn bushes and a stack of sheaves or the standing grain or the field is consumed, the one who started the fire will surely make restitution.

²⁴ for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous* God.

⁵ They will divide it among themselves into seven portions; _⌊Judah will maintain its border_⌋* from the south, and _⌊the house of Joseph will maintain its border_⌋* from the north.

²² Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. ²³ And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).

²⁰ For your servant knows that I have sinned; look, I have come this day as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king."

²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a man of ability, and Solomon saw that the young man _⌊was a diligent worker_⌋,* so he appointed him over all of the forced labor for the house of Joseph.

³¹ And the strong man shall become like tinder, and his work like a spark. And both of them shall burn together, and there is not one to quench them."

⁶ Seek Yahweh _⌊while he lets himself be found_⌋;* call him _⌊while he is_⌋* near.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your hearts,* men* of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and burns, and there is no one who extinguishes it,* because of the evil of your deeds."

²⁰ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will not be extinguished."

⁴⁷ And you must say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; the blaze of the flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸ And all creatures will see that I, Yahweh, I kindled it—it will not be quenched!" '"

¹¹ Say to them, '_⌊As I live_⌋,'* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, '_⌊Surely I have no delight_⌋* in the death of the wicked, _⌊except_⌋* in the wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil ones, for why should you die, house of Israel?'

¹⁹ Then speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am taking the piece of wood for Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, the piece of wood of Judah, and I will make them into one piece of wood, so that they be one in my hand.'"

⁴ For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, "Seek me so that you may live."

¹⁴ Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.

⁶ Alas for those who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

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

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

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

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

¹⁸ so that _⌊there is not_⌋* among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe _⌊whose heart_⌋* turns _⌊today_⌋* from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood.

³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to have insight and to do good.

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

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

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

¹ Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil, and writers who have written harm,

¹³ transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning _⌊away from following_⌋* our God; speaking oppression and falsehood, conceiving and uttering words of deception from the heart. ¹⁴ And justice is pushed back, and righteousness stands afar; for truth stumbles in the public square, and straightforwardness is unable to enter,

²⁰ And _⌊when the righteous turns from his righteousness_⌋* and does injustice, and I place* a stumbling block _⌊before him_⌋,* he will die, for you did not warn him. Because of his sin he will die, and his righteousness* that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I shall seek from your hand.

²⁴ And _⌊when the righteous turns_⌋* from his righteousness, so that* he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then* will he live because of all of his righteousness* that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his _⌊sin that he committed_⌋.* Through* them he shall die.

¹² "So* you, son of man,* say to _⌊your people_⌋* that the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked _⌊will not cause him to stumble_⌋* on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and the righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin. ¹³ When I say to the righteous, 'Certainly he will live,' and he trusted in* his righteousness, and he turns and he does injustice, all of his righteousness* will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die.

¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die _⌊because of it_⌋.*

⁴ They utter words of vain oaths when _⌊making covenants_⌋,* and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant on the furrows of the field.

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine. ¹² For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous, you foes of the righteous, those who take a bribe, and _⌊those who_⌋* push aside the poor ones in the gate!

¹² Do horses run on rocks, or does one plow the sea with oxen?* But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood!

¹² Are you not from of old, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? You* shall not die. O Yahweh, you have marked them* for judgment; O Rock, you have established them* for reproof. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to see evil, and you are not able to look at wrongdoing.* Why do you look at the treacherous? Why are you silent when the wicked swallows up someone more righteous than him? ¹⁴ You make humankind like fish of the sea, like crawling creatures that have no ruler among them.

⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the springs of the great deep were split open, and the windows of heaven were opened. ¹² And the rain came upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On this same day, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, ¹⁴ they and all the living creatures according to their* kind, and all the domesticated animals according to their* kind, and all the creatures that creep upon the earth according to their* kind, all the birds according to their* kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ And they came to Noah to the ark, _⌊two of each_⌋,* from every living thing in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that came, male and female, of every living thing, came as God had commanded him. And Yahweh shut the door behind him. ¹⁷ And the flood came forty days and forty nights upon the earth. And the waters increased, and lifted the ark, and it rose up from the earth. ¹⁸ And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon the surface* of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed _⌊overwhelmingly_⌋* upon the earth, and they covered all the high mountains which were under the entire heaven.* ²⁰ _⌊The waters swelled fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering them_⌋.*

²¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that a person can feel darkness." ²² And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was darkness of night in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see his brother, and _⌊because of it no one could move from where they were_⌋* for three days, but there was light for the _⌊Israelites_⌋* in their dwellings.

²⁴ And during the morning watch, Yahweh looked down to the Egyptian camp from in the column of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. ²⁵ And he removed* the wheels of their chariots so that they drove them with difficulty, and the Egyptians said, "We must flee away* from Israel because Yahweh is fighting for them against Egypt." ²⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, and let the waters return over the Egyptians, over their chariots, and over their charioteers." ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned _⌊at daybreak_⌋* to its normal level, and the Egyptians were fleeing _⌊because of it_⌋,* and Yahweh swept the Egyptians into the middle of the sea. ²⁸ And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the charioteers—all the army of Pharaoh coming after them into the sea. Not _⌊even_⌋* one survived among them.

⁴⁴ It happened that at the seventh time, he said, "Look, there is a small cloud, as the hand of a man, coming up from the sea." Then Elijah said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Harness your horses and go down, lest the rain stop you.'" ⁴⁵ _⌊In no time_⌋* the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was heavy rain. Ahab rode and he went to Jezreel,

⁹ He is the one who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

²² "He uncovers mysteries out of darkness, and he brings deep shadow to the light.

¹³ Whether as _⌊correction_⌋* or for his land, or as loyal love, he lets it happen.

¹² "Have you _⌊ever in your life_⌋* commanded the morning? Have you made the dawn know its place, ¹³ to take hold of the earth's skirts so that* the wicked might be shaken off from it?

³¹ "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or can you loosen the cords of Orion? ³² Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time, or* can you lead the Bear with its children?

³⁴ Can you lift up your voice to the clouds so that* a flood of water may cover you?

⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains. ⁷ At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they ran off. ⁸ They ascended the mountains and drained though the valleys to the place that you established* for them. ⁹ You set a boundary that they may not cross over, so that they would not return to cover the earth.

²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night, when* all the animals of the forest creep about.

²⁸ He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against his words.

¹⁰ Those who sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron— ¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High, ¹² he therefore humbled their heart with trouble. They stumbled and there was no helper. ¹³ Then they called to Yahweh for help in their trouble; he saved them from their distresses. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and gloom, and tore off their bonds.

¹⁶ And I will lead the blind by a road they do not know; I will cause them to tread on paths they have not known. I will make darkness _⌊in their presence_⌋* into light and rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

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

¹³ Yes, here is the one who forms the mountains, and the one who creates the wind, and the one who reveals to humans what his thoughts are, and the one who treads on the heights of the earth; Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name!"

⁹ And then in that day," _⌊declares_⌋* my Lord Yahweh, "I* will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light.

⁶ who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth—Yahweh is his name.

¹⁶ the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the ones who sit in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned on them."*

⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

¹⁷ Then he said, "Open the window to the east," so he opened it. Elisha said, "Shoot," and he shot. Then he said, "An arrow of victory for Yahweh, and an arrow of victory against Aram; you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until finishing them."

²⁵ Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael which he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times Jehoash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.

¹⁰ For even if you struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.'"

¹¹ And I will cut off the cities of your land, and I will demolish all your fortifications.

³⁴ extinguished the effectiveness of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in battle, put to flight enemy battle lines.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is this you who throws Israel into confusion?"

²⁰ Then Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He said, "I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so."

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.'" ²¹ Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. ²² So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, "May Yahweh see and avenge!"

¹⁶ And it happened that while he was speaking to him, he said to him, "Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop—_⌊why should you be killed_⌋?"* So the prophet stopped and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

⁷ He who corrects a scoffer gains abuse for himself, and he who rebukes the wicked _⌊gets hurt_⌋.* ⁸ Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke the wise and he will love you.

²¹ those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the _⌊arbitrator_⌋* in the gate and guide away the righteous by emptiness.

¹⁶ But I, I have not run away from being a shepherd _⌊who follows you_⌋,* and I have not desired the disastrous day. You, you know the pronouncement of my lips, it was before your face. ¹⁷ You must not become to me a terror, you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

⁷ You have persuaded me, O Yahweh, and I was persuaded. You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long. _⌊Everyone_⌋* is mocking me. ⁸ For _⌊as often as_⌋* I speak, I must cry out violence and destruction. I must shout, for the word of Yahweh has become for me a disgrace and derision all day long. ⁹ But if I say, "I will not mention him and I will no longer speak in his name," then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning, locked up in my bones, and I struggle to contain it,* and I am not able. ¹⁰ For I hear the rumor of many, "Terror is from all around, denounce him,* yes, let us denounce him!" _⌊All my close friends_⌋* are watchers of my stumbling, saying, "perhaps he can be persuaded, and we can prevail over him, and we can take our revenge on him."

¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. ¹¹ For this Amos has said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile away from his land.'" ¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah and earn food there and prophesy there!" ¹³ But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this is a sanctuary of a king and this is a temple of a kingdom." ¹⁴ And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees. ¹⁵ And Yahweh took me from following behind the sheep and goats and Yahweh said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel! ¹⁶ And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, 'You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!' ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you* will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil.

⁴⁵ But because I am telling the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Who among you convicts me concerning sin? If I am telling the truth, _⌊why_⌋* do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God."

¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they do not have a valid excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

¹⁰ And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

³⁰ You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep* with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it.

³⁸ "You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it. ³⁹ You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress* them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.*

⁷ For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man* of Judah is the plantation of his delight. And he waited for justice,* but look! Bloodshed!* For righteousness,* but look! A cry of distress!* ⁸ Ah! Those who _⌊join_⌋* house with house, they join field together with field until _⌊there is no place_⌋* and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

²¹ And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. For the days of my people shall be like the days of a tree, and my chosen ones shall enjoy the work of their hands.

¹⁵ I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

² They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and they take them away. They oppress a man and his house; a man and his inheritance.

¹ And I said, "Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? ² Those of you who are haters of good and lovers of evil, who tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, ³ and who eat the flesh of my people, and strip their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop them like meat in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot."

¹⁵ You yourself will sow, but you will not reap; you will tread olives, but you will not anoint yourself with oil; you will tread grapes, but you will not drink wine.

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

⁶ You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without being satisfied; _⌊you have drunk without being satiated_⌋;* you have worn clothes without being warm; the one who earns wages puts it in _⌊a pouch with holes_⌋.'*

⁶ But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich exploiting you and they themselves dragging you into the courts?

⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And those from peoples and tribes and languages and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

¹⁸ "You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your _⌊towns_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render for the people _⌊righteous judgments_⌋.*

²¹ _⌊And then_⌋* many disasters and troubles will come upon them,* and this song will give evidence before them* as a witness, because it will not be forgotten from out of the mouth of their descendants,* for I know their* inclination that they* are having _⌊today_⌋* before I have brought them* into the land that I swore."

¹ And Boaz had gone up to the city gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, _⌊friend_⌋."* And he came over and sat.

³ But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.

⁷ Now this happened because the _⌊Israelites_⌋* had sinned against Yahweh their God when he brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt and they feared other gods. ⁸ They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* which the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* secretly did things which were not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. ¹² They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!" ¹³ Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, with every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors,* which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets." ¹⁴ But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors* who did not believe in Yahweh their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

⁷ "At my going out the gate to the city, I secured my seat in the square. ⁸ Young men saw me and stepped aside, and the aged rose up and stood. ⁹ Officials refrained from talking, and they laid their hand on their mouth. ¹⁰ The voices* of nobles were hushed, and their tongue stuck to their palate. ¹¹ "When the ear heard and commended me, and the eye saw and testified in support of me ¹² because I saved the needy who cried for help, and I saved* the orphan for whom there was no helper. ¹³ The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a headband. ¹⁵ "I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, and I investigated _⌊the stranger's_⌋* legal dispute. ¹⁷ And I broke the evil one's jaw bones, and I made his prey drop from his teeth. ¹⁸ "And I thought, 'I will pass away in my nest, and like the phoenix I shall multiply my days. ¹⁹ My roots were open to water, and dew spent the night on my branches; ²⁰ My glory was new with me, and _⌊I was revitalized regularly_⌋.'* ²¹ "They listened to me and waited, and they kept silent for my counsel. ²² After my word, they did not speak again, and my word dropped down like dew upon them. ²³ And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. ²⁴ I smiled for them when they had no confidence in anything, and they did not extinguish the light of my face. ²⁵ I chose their way, and I sat as head, and I dwelled like a king among the troops, like one who comforts mourners.

²¹ if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,

⁹ Do not destroy me* with the sinners, nor my life with men of bloodshed, ¹⁰ in whose hands is an evil plan, and whose right hand is full of bribes.*

²² Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;

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

² to guide the needy away from legal claims,* and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.

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

⁹ And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you _⌊completely_⌋,* in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

¹⁸ "And I—their works and thoughts!—am about to come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.

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

³⁴ To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth;

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

¹⁶ Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. This is the declaration of Yahweh!"

¹⁰ They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly.

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

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

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

¹³ The God of Abraham and of Isaac* and of Jacob,* the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, after* he had decided to release him.* ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and demanded that a man—a murderer—be granted to you.

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

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom _⌊we must give our account_⌋*.

⁴ Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts.

⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous person; he does not resist you.

⁷ a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak;

¹² For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also _⌊humans_⌋* are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.

²¹ But* they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, "You must not answer him."

³ And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the cervical opening, and there is no strength to give birth.

⁴ Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, is my contention.*

¹⁰ And if one's relative, who burns the body, lifts it up and brings the body out of the house and he will say to someone in the innermost part of the house, "Are there any more with you?" and he will say, "None," then he will say, "Silence," because we must not invoke the name of Yahweh.

³ Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.

⁵ Do not put faith in a friend; put no trust in a close friend. Guard the doorways of your mouth from the one who lies in your lap. ⁶ For a son treats a father with contempt; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of a man are the men of his own house. ⁷ But as for me, I will look to Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

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

² Before the birth of the decree, the day flies away like chaff; before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you; before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you. ³ Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land who have fulfilled his law; seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the anger of Yahweh.

¹² And _⌊when he was being accused_⌋* by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" ¹⁴ And he did not reply to him, not even with reference to one statement, so that the governor was very astonished.

¹⁵ Therefore, consider carefully how you live, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of the time because the days are evil.

¹³ Because of this, take up the full armor of God, in order that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

¹ But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come,

² And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ And his master observed that Yahweh was with him, and everything that was in his hand to do Yahweh made successful.

²³ The chief of the prison _⌊did not worry about_⌋* anything in his* hand, since Yahweh was with him. And whatever he did Yahweh made it successful.

¹² And he said, "Because I am with you, and this will be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain."

³ They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "_⌊You take too much upon yourselves_⌋!* All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?"

⁹ Did I not command you? Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you _⌊wherever you go_⌋."*

²⁰ Then David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do this! Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for Yahweh God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you and will not forsake you until all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh is finished.

¹² Who is the man who desires life, who loves many days in order to see good? ¹³ Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. ¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. ¹⁵ The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry for help. ¹⁶ The face of Yahweh is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

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

²⁷ He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who inquires of evil, it will come to him.

¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed! Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow!

¹ Hear this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and came out from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Yahweh, and _⌊invoke_⌋* the God of Israel, but not in truth and not in righteousness. ² For they call themselves _⌊after the holy city_⌋,* and they lean on the God of Israel— Yahweh of hosts is his name.

² Why do you weigh out money for what is not food, and your labor for _⌊what cannot satisfy_⌋?* Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul take pleasure in _⌊rich_⌋* food.

³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in _⌊the deceitful words_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* 'The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.'

³ Do two walk together unless they have met?

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

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

³³ But seek first his kingdom and righteousness,* and all these things will be added to you.

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

⁷ to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, ⁸ but to those who act from selfish ambition and who disobey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be affliction and distress for every _⌊human being_⌋* who does evil, of the Jew first and of the Greek,

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things. ⁹ And the things which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

³⁰ _⌊And_⌋* the next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."

¹² Perhaps Yahweh will look _⌊in my eye_⌋* and repay good for me in place of his curse this day.

³¹ Then his servants said to him, "Please now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us now put sackcloth on around our waists and ropes on our heads. Then let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps _⌊he will let you live_⌋."*

⁷ For there was no army left over for Jehoahaz except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them as the dust at threshing.

²⁶ For Yahweh saw that the misery of Israel was very bitter, whether bond or free, but there was no helper for Israel. ²⁷ Yahweh did not decree to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash.

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

⁶ And he said to the judges, "Consider what you are doing, for you are not judging for a man but for Yahweh. Now he is with you in speaking justice. ⁷ So now, let the fear of Yahweh be upon you all. _⌊Be careful what you do_⌋,* for there is neither wickedness nor _⌊showing partiality_⌋* and taking bribes with Yahweh our God." ⁸ Moreover, Jehoshaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of the Levites and the priests and heads of the _⌊families_⌋* of Israel as judges and to decide legal disputes for Yahweh. And they sat* in Jerusalem. ⁹ And he commanded them, saying, "Thus you must do in the fear of Yahweh in faithfulness and with a whole heart. ¹⁰ Any legal dispute that comes before you from your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, and justice, you must warn them, so that they do not incur guilt before Yahweh, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you must do that you do not incur guilt. ¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the word of Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all matters of the king, and the Levites shall be before you as officials. Be strong and do well! May Yahweh be with the upright."

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

⁴ He plans sin on his bed. He puts himself on a way that is not good. He does not reject evil.

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

² "How long will you judge unjustly and _⌊show favoritism to the wicked_⌋?* Selah ³ Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan; provide justice to the afflicted and the poor. ⁴ Rescue the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

¹⁰ You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He protects the lives of his faithful; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

¹⁰⁴ From your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? ²² I hate them with a complete hatred; they have become my enemies.

⁵ For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,* ⁷ then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors* _⌊forever and ever_⌋.*

⁷ For thus says Yahweh,
"Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness, and shout out for the head of the nations. Proclaim, praise, and say, 'Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.'

¹⁴ Who knows whether he will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, an offering and a libation, for Yahweh your God?

²⁴ But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

⁹ Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn _⌊from his blazing anger_⌋* _⌊so that_⌋* we will not perish."

¹² I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely gather together the remainder of Israel. I will set them like sheep of Bozrah. Like a herd in the midst of their pasture they will be in tumult from people.

³ Therefore he will give them up until the time of she who is with child has given birth. And the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

⁷ And the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many nations, like dew from Yahweh, like showers upon the grass which does not wait for a man, nor delays for the children of humankind. ⁸ And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the wild animals of the forest, like a young lion among the herds of sheep which, when it passes through and treads down and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.

¹⁵ For what I am doing I do not understand, because what I want to do, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do. ¹⁶ But if what I do not want to do, this I do, I agree with the law that it is good.

²² For I joyfully agree with the law of God in my inner person,

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

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

²¹ but examine all things; hold fast to what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

² It has gone up to the house,* and Dibon to the high places for weeping over Nebo, and Moab wails over Medeba. _⌊Every head is bald_⌋,* every beard is shaved. ³ They gird themselves with sackcloth in its streets; on its roofs and public squares everyone wails, going down in weeping. ⁴ And Heshbon and Elealeh cry* out, their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed ones of Moab cry out; its soul quivers* for him. ⁵ My heart cries out for Moab; its fugitives flee up to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent of Luhith it goes up it with weeping; for on the road of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction.

⁸ For a cry for help has encircled the territory of Moab, her wailing is heard as far as Eglaim, and her wailing as far as Beer Elim.

¹² And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day
for weeping and mourning, and for baldness and girding _⌊with_⌋* sackcloth.

³¹ For I heard a voice like an ill woman, anxiety like a woman who bears her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath, she is spreading out her hands: "Woe is me, for I am becoming tired* before killers."

¹⁷ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come, and for the skillful women, so that they come. ¹⁸ And let them hasten, and let them lift up wailing over us, so that our eyes may melt with tears, and our eyelids may flow with water. ¹⁹ For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How we are devastated! We are very ashamed because we have left the land, because they have overthrown our dwelling places.' ²⁰ For hear, O women, the word of Yahweh, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters a lamentation, and each woman her neighbor a lament.

⁸ Lament like a virgin girded in sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

¹¹ Be ashamed, farmers; Wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field is ruined.

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

¹³ "Listen and testify against the house of Jacob," _⌊declares_⌋* my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.

²⁷ And I will deport you beyond Damascus," says Yahweh—the God of hosts is his name.

¹⁰ And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day.

⁸ On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the _⌊ostriches_⌋.*

¹⁰ standing _⌊far off_⌋* because of the fear of her torment, saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the powerful city, because in one hour your judgment has come!"

¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand _⌊far off_⌋*, weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, ¹⁶ saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,

¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, in which all those who had ships on the sea became rich from her prosperity, because in one hour she has been laid waste!"

¹² "And I will go through the land of Egypt during this night, and I will strike all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and I will do punishments among all of the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh.

²³ And Yahweh will go through to strike Egypt, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike you.

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

¹⁰ _⌊In a year_⌋* you will tremble, carefree ones,
for the vintage will come to an end; the harvest will not come. ¹¹ Tremble, you who are at ease; tremble, carefree ones; strip, and strip yourself, and gird yourself on your loins,* ¹² mourning over breasts, over fields of delight, over the fruitful vine,

³³ And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land, even from the land of Moab. And the wine from the wine presses I have caused to disappear. He will not tread with exuberant shouts.* Exuberant shouts* will not be exuberant shouts.*

¹ Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not exult like the nations! For you played the whore, departing from your God; you loved a harlot's wage on all the threshing floors of grain. ² Threshing floor and wine vat will not feed them, and new wine will fail her.*

¹⁷ And you will know that I, Yahweh your God, am dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be a place of holiness, and strangers will pass through it no longer.

¹² Yahweh says this:
"Even though they are powerful and likewise many, even so they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you,* I will afflict you* no longer.

¹⁵ * Look! On the mountains! The feet of the one who brings good tidings, the one who proclaims peace! "Celebrate a festival, O Judah, Fulfill your vows! For he will not invade you again; the wicked one is cut off completely!"

⁸ But I will encamp at my temple* like a guard, against those crossing through and returning; no oppressor will cross through them again, for now I have seen with my own eyes.

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

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

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

¹¹ there is an outcry over the wine in the streets. All joy turns into _⌊darkness_⌋;* the joy of the earth disappears. ¹² Desolation is left in the city; the gate is crushed into a state of ruin.

¹⁵ Because you have said,
"We have _⌊made_⌋* a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol.
The overwhelming flood, when it passes through, will not come to us,
for we have made lies* our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves in falsehood." ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:
"Look! I am laying a stone in Zion, a _⌊tested_⌋* stone, a precious cornerstone, a founded foundation:
'The one who trusts will not _⌊panic_⌋.'* ¹⁷ And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,* and waters will flood over the hiding place. ¹⁸ And your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; you will become a trampling place for the overwhelming flood when it passes through. ¹⁹ _⌊As often as it passes through_⌋,* it will take you, for _⌊morning by morning_⌋* it will pass through, in the day and in the night,
and understanding the message will be only terror." ²⁰ For the bed is too short _⌊to stretch out on_⌋,* and the covering is too narrow when wrapping oneself. ²¹ For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount Perazim; he will rave as in the valley at Gibeon to do his deed—his deed is strange— and to work his work—his work is alien! ²² And now you must not scoff, or your bonds will be strong,
for I have heard from the Lord, Yahweh of hosts:
complete destruction decreed upon all the land.

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

⁷ Alas! For that day is great, _⌊there is none like it_⌋.* And it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet from it he will be delivered.

²² "Son of man,* what is this proverb _⌊you people have_⌋* about the land of Israel, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊The days are prolonged_⌋,* and every vision has come to nothing.'

²⁷ "Son of man,* look! The house of Israel is saying, 'The vision that he is seeing is for many days from now, and for distant times he is prophesying.'

¹⁵ Ah! For the day! For the day of Yahweh is near. It will come like destruction from Shaddai.*

¹ Blow the trumpet* in Zion, and sound the alarm on _⌊my holy mountain_⌋!* Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming —it is indeed near. ² A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick darkness, like the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great and strong army! There has been nothing like it from old, and after it nothing will be again _⌊for generations to come_⌋.*

¹⁰ _⌊Before them_⌋* the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars _⌊have withheld_⌋* their splendor

³¹ The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.

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

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts. ² And who can endure the day of his coming? And who is the one who can stand _⌊when he appears_⌋?* For he is like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.*

¹ * "For look! The day is about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every _⌊evildoer_⌋* will be stubble. The coming day will consume* them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.

⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For _⌊ever since_⌋* the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation."

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by* being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed.

²⁹ These encamped opposite for seven days, and it happened on the seventh day that _⌊the battle began_⌋,* and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* killed the Arameans, one hundred thousand infantry in one day. ³⁰ Then those who remained fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who had remained, so Ben-Hadad fled and went to the innermost rooms of the city.

²⁴ "He will flee from an iron weapon, but an arrow of bronze will pierce him. ²⁵ He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body, and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder; terrors come upon him.

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

² _⌊And then_⌋* if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh,
"Those who are destined for the plague, to the plague, and those who are destined for the sword, to the sword, and those who are destined for the famine, to the famine, and those who are destined for the captivity, to the captivity." ' ³ "And I will summon* over them four types of calamity," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birds* of the air and the wild animals* of the earth to devour and to destroy.

⁴³ Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you, O inhabitant of Moab," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁴ "He who flees _⌊before_⌋* the dread will fall into the pit, and the one who climbs up from the pit will be caught in the trapping net, for I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹ I saw my Lord standing by the altar and he said, "Strike the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and shatter them on the head of all of them, and I will kill the rest of them with the sword. A fugitive belonging to them will not run away, and a survivor belonging to them will not escape. ² If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and even if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

⁴ And when the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying* to one another, "Doubtless this man is a murderer whom, although he* was rescued from the sea, Justice* has not permitted to live!"

⁴ Let that day become* darkness; may God not seek it from above, nor may daylight shine on it. ⁵ Let darkness and deep shadow claim it; let clouds* settle on it; let them* terrify it with the blackness* of day. ⁶ Let darkness seize that night;* let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not enter among the number of the months.

²¹ Before I go—and I will not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow, ²² to the land of darkness, like the darkness of a deep shadow and _⌊chaos_⌋,* so that* it shines forth like darkness.'"

¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

¹² just like the caring of a shepherd for his herd on* the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places _⌊to which they were scattered_⌋* on the day _⌊of storm and stress_⌋.*

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

¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of disaster and ruination, a day of darkness and deep gloom, a day of clouds* and thick clouds,*

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

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

¹⁰ And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain.

²¹ And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said _⌊to himself_⌋,* "_⌊Never again will I curse_⌋* the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. _⌊Nor will I ever again destroy_⌋* all life as I have done.

³¹ And I will lay your cities in ruins, and I will lay waste your sanctuaries; and I shall not smell your sacrifices'* appeasing fragrance.

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

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

⁹ He who turns his ear from listening to instruction, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹¹ What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals and I do not delight in the blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? ¹³ You must not _⌊continue_⌋* to bring offerings* of futility, incense—it is an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation— I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like a burden, I am not able to bear them. ¹⁵ And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,* I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!

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

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

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For I did not speak with your ancestors,* nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. ²³ But I only commanded them this word, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

¹³ They offer sacrifices of my choice* and they eat flesh; Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.

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

² and live in love, just as also Christ loved us, and gave himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell.*

¹⁸ But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; _⌊I am well supplied_⌋* because* I received from Epaphroditus _⌊what you had sent_⌋*, a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

¹² If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice he shall present ring-shaped unleavened bread mixed with oil and unleavened bread wafers smeared with oil and well-mixed ring-shaped bread cakes of finely milled flour mixed with oil. ¹³ In addition to ring-shaped cakes of bread with yeast, he must present his grain* offering together with* his sacrifice of thanksgiving peace offerings. ¹⁴ And he shall present one of each kind of grain* offering as a contribution for Yahweh; _⌊it belongs to_⌋* the priest who sprinkles the fellowship offerings' blood. ¹⁵ And the meat of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving fellowship offerings must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not leave it until morning.

⁸ It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually. ⁹ I will not take from your house a bull or from your stalls a he-goat, ¹⁰ because every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird of the mountains, and every moving creature in the field is mine. ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you, because the world and its fullness are mine. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Offer to God a thank offering and pay your vows to the Most High.

²³ He who sacrifices a thank offering honors me, and he who orders his way; I will show him the salvation of God."

²¹ Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his loyal love, and his wonderful deeds for the children of humankind, ²² and let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his works with rejoicing.

¹⁷ I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and proclaim the name of Yahweh.

⁴ "Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and _⌊multiply transgression_⌋!* Bring your sacrifices in the morning and your tithes on the _⌊third day_⌋.* ⁵ And bring a thank offering of unleavened bread, and proclaim freewill offerings, pronounce them, for so you love to do, O _⌊people_⌋* of Israel," is the declaration of my Lord Yahweh.

⁶ With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old? ⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁵ Alas for those who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music.

³ "And the songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," _⌊declares_⌋* my Lord Yahweh. "The corpses are numerous; he throws them in every place. Be quiet!"

¹² because I saved the needy who cried for help, and I saved* the orphan for whom there was no helper. ¹³ The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a headband. ¹⁵ "I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, and I investigated _⌊the stranger's_⌋* legal dispute. ¹⁷ And I broke the evil one's jaw bones, and I made his prey drop from his teeth.

³ Doing righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.

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

⁶ Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ Ah, you who turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground!

¹⁴ Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. ¹⁵ Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

³² And the scribe said to him, "That is true, Teacher. You have said _⌊correctly_⌋* that he is one and there is no other except him. ³³ And to love him from your* whole heart and from your* whole understanding and from your* whole strength, and to love your* neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." ³⁴ And Jesus, when he* saw that he had answered thoughtfully, said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to put a question to him any longer.

⁷ And _⌊they may no longer sacrifice_⌋* their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is _⌊a lasting statute_⌋* for them _⌊throughout_⌋* their generations." '

¹⁷ They sacrificed to the demons, not God, to gods whom* they had not known, new gods who* came from recent times; _⌊their ancestors had not known them_⌋.* ¹⁸ The rock who* bore you, you neglected, and you forgot God, the one giving you birth. ¹⁹ Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

¹⁴ "So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors* served beyond the river* and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.

¹⁸ Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,' and committed great blasphemies.

²¹ Forty years you sustained them in the desert—they were not in need. Their clothing did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

²³ You have not brought me your sheep for a burnt offering nor* honored me with your sacrifice. I have not made you serve with offerings,* nor have I made you weary with frankincense. ²⁴ You have not bought me spice reed with money or* satisfied me with the fat of sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities.

⁸ But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one _⌊did not throw away_⌋* the detestable things of their eyes; and _⌊they did not abandon_⌋* the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ because they despised my judgments, and _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols.

²⁴ because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors.*

⁹ _⌊They deeply corrupted themselves_⌋* as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their sin, he will punish their sins. ¹⁰ Like the grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,* I saw your ancestors.* They themselves came to Baal Peor, and they consecrated themselves to shame. And they became detestable things, like _⌊the thing they love_⌋.*

⁵ "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

⁴² But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:
'You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, did you,* house of Israel? ⁴³ And you took along the tabernacle* of Moloch and the star of the god* Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!'*

²¹ " 'And you shall not give _⌊any of_⌋* your offspring* in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor* shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

² "And to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* you shall say, 'If there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives _⌊any of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.* ³ And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, so that _⌊he makes my sanctuary unclean_⌋* and profanes* _⌊my holy name_⌋.* ⁴ And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from* that man at his giving _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, ⁵ then* I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech.

³³ because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋.* They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as did David his father.

¹² The altars which were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh, the king tore down and ran from there and threw their ashes into the Wadi Kidron. ¹³ The high places which were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mountain of Destruction which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the detestable thing of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* the king defiled.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁴³ And you took along the tabernacle* of Moloch and the star of the god* Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!'*