Daniel 9 Cross References - LEB

¹ In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus,* from the offspring of the Medes, who became king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his kingship I, Daniel, observed in the scrolls the number of the years that it was that were to be fulfilled according to the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet for the devastation of Jerusalem—seventy years. ³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy,* in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. ⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you. ⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets. ¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. ¹² And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and _⌊we have not implored_⌋* the face of Yahweh our God so as to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness.* ¹⁴ So Yahweh has kept watch over the* calamity, and now he has brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God is righteous concerning all his works* that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice. ¹⁵ "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, _⌊your holy mountain_⌋,* because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors* Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors. ¹⁷ "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine* your face upon your desolate sanctuary _⌊for your sake, O Lord_⌋.* ¹⁸ Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy _⌊before you_⌋* because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay _⌊for your sake_⌋,* my God; because _⌊your city and your people are called by your name_⌋."* ²⁰ Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh my God, on behalf _⌊of the holy mountain of my God_⌋.* ²¹ And I was still speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision _⌊previously_⌋,* _⌊in my weariness touched me_⌋* at the time of the evening offering. ²² And he instructed me and he spoke with me and he said, "Daniel I have now come out* to teach you understanding. ²³ At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and now I have come to declare* it, for you are highly esteemed, and so consider the word and understand the vision. ²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.* ²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.* ²⁶ "And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one* shall be cut off, and _⌊he shall have nothing_⌋,* and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,* and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering _⌊and in its place_⌋* a desolating abomination comes even until _⌊the determined complete destruction_⌋* is poured out on the desolator."

²¹ And Daniel was there until the first year of Cyrus the king.

³¹ * And Darius the Mede received the kingdom _⌊when he was about sixty-two years old_⌋.*

²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the kingdom of Darius and during the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

¹ "And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, _⌊I stood_⌋* as a support and as a protection for him.

²¹ to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of desolation it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he sent a message to all of his kingdom and also put the message in writing:

³ Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins, to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary. ⁴ Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they have set up their signs for signs. ⁵ They are* known to be like those who _⌊wield_⌋* axes in a thicket of trees. ⁶ And now* its* carved works altogether they have smashed with axe and hammer. ⁷ They have set fire to your sanctuary. They have defiled to the ground, the dwelling place for your name.

¹ A psalm of Asaph.*
O God, the nations have entered your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have reduced Jerusalem to ruins. ² They have given the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

²⁴ Your testimonies are my delight, _⌊my counselors_⌋.*

⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. ¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the elders, for I keep your precepts.

¹¹ Then I said, "Until when, Lord?"
And he said,
"Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is ruined and a waste, ¹² and Yahweh sends the people far away, and the abandonment is great in the midst of the land.

¹⁰ The city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut _⌊so that no one can enter_⌋;* ¹¹ there is an outcry over the wine in the streets. All joy turns into _⌊darkness_⌋;* the joy of the earth disappears. ¹² Desolation is left in the city; the gate is crushed into a state of ruin.

¹⁰ _⌊Your holy cities_⌋* have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

³⁴ And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.

¹¹ And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.* ¹² _⌊And then_⌋* when the seventy years* are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it _⌊an everlasting waste_⌋.*

¹⁸ Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, and its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse for all the nations of the earth.'" '"

¹⁸ "Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, _⌊saying_⌋:*
'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Zion will be plowed, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the _⌊temple_⌋* as high places of wood." '

⁷ And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and _⌊his grandson_⌋,* until the coming of the time of _⌊his own_⌋* land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work.

¹⁰ For thus says Yahweh, '_⌊As soon as the time has passed_⌋,* seventy years* for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

¹ How desolate the city sits that was full of people! She has become like a widow, once great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer.

¹⁵ _⌊And then_⌋* when I, Daniel, saw the vision, and I was seeking understanding, there was one standing before me with the appearance of a man. ¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a human at the Ulai, and he called and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

¹² Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and _⌊the temple mount_⌋* as a high place in a forest.

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?

¹⁵ "So when you see the abomination of desolation* spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place" (let the one who reads understand),

¹⁴ "But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be" (let the one who reads understand), "then those in Judea must flee to the mountains!

³⁴ And the eunuch answered and* said to Philip, "I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this—about himself or about someone else?"

¹³ Until I come, pay attention to the public reading,* to exhortation, to teaching.

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

¹⁰ Concerning this* salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace meant for you sought and made careful inquiry, ¹¹ investigating for what person or which time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he* testified beforehand to the sufferings with reference to Christ and the glories after these things, ¹² to whom it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you with reference to the same things which now have been announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, _⌊things into which_⌋* angels desire to look.

¹⁹ and we possess as more reliable the prophetic word, to which you do well if you* pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰ recognizing this above all, that every prophecy of scripture does not come about from one's own interpretation, ²¹ for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are* those who hear the words of the prophecy and observe the things written in it, because the time is near!

²¹ I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before our God in order to seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and our possessions.

⁵ At the evening offering I got up from my mourning posture and, with my garment and robe torn, I fell down on my knees and I spread out my palms to Yahweh my God

⁶ Ezra rose from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He did not eat food nor drink water because he was mourning over the sin of the exiles.

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. ⁵ I said, "O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and awesome one who keeps the covenant and loyal love for the ones who love him and for those who keep his commands. ⁶ Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and confessing the sins of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned. ⁷ We have certainly offended you and have not kept the commands, regulations, and judgments that you have commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Please, remember the word that you have commanded to your servant Moses, saying, 'If you act unfaithfully I will scatter you all among the nations. ⁹ But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even though all of your outcasts are at the furthest parts of heaven, I will gather them and bring them to the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell.' ¹⁰ They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man."
I was cupbearer for the king.

¹ On the twenty-fourth day of this month the _⌊Israelites_⌋* gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.

¹ Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry; ² he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth. ³ In every province each place where the king's edict and his law came, there was great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, and sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.

¹⁶ "Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which is not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

¹³ But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer _⌊returned to me unanswered_⌋.*

¹⁰ When I wept in the fasting of my soul, it became reproaches for me. ¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became for them a byword.

¹³ You rise up and take pity on Zion, because it is time to favor it, for the appointed time has come. ¹⁴ Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to its dust. ¹⁵ Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh, and all the kings of the earth your glory. ¹⁶ For Yahweh will rebuild Zion; he will appear in his glory. ¹⁷ He will turn his attention to the prayer of the destitute and will not despise their prayer.

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

¹⁰ For thus says Yahweh, '_⌊As soon as the time has passed_⌋,* seventy years* for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. 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.

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

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

¹⁰ Now _⌊when_⌋* Daniel realized that the document was signed, he went to his house (_⌊now he had windows in his upper room that were open_⌋* toward Jerusalem), and three times _⌊daily_⌋* he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave praise before his God, _⌊just as_⌋* he had been doing _⌊previously_⌋.*

² In those days, I, Daniel, I myself* was in mourning _⌊for three whole weeks_⌋.* ³ I had not eaten any choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and _⌊I did not use any ointment_⌋* _⌊until the end of three whole weeks_⌋.*

¹³ Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

¹² "And even now," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

⁶ And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. ⁷ And he had a proclamation made, and said,
"In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles:
"No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! ⁸ And the human beings and the animals must be covered with sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his* hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn _⌊from his blazing anger_⌋* _⌊so that_⌋* we will not perish."

³⁷ and herself as a widow up to eighty-four years)* who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

³⁰ And Cornelius said, "_⌊Four days ago at this hour_⌋,* the ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man in shining clothing stood before me

⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your* joy to gloominess. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being* with the same nature as us, and _⌊he prayed fervently_⌋* for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

⁶ and showing loyal love to thousands of generations* of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments.

⁶ And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* and abounding with* loyal love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations."

⁴⁰ " 'But* when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors* in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility— ⁴¹ I myself* also* went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt, ⁴² I will remember* my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

¹⁸ 'Yahweh is _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and great of loyal love, _⌊forgiving_⌋* sin and rebellion; but surely he leaves nothing unpunished, visiting the sin of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generations.' ¹⁹ Please forgive the sin of this people according to the greatness of your loyal love, just as you _⌊forgave_⌋* this people, from Egypt until now."

¹⁰ but showing loyal love to thousands of those who love me and of those who keep my commandments.

⁹ So know that Yahweh your God, he is God, the trustworthy God, maintaining his* covenant and his* loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations,*

²¹ You must not be in dread from the presence of them, because Yahweh your God, who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God.

²³ and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart.

⁴⁷ and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,' ⁴⁸ if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors,* the city that you have chosen and the house that you* built for your name, ⁴⁹ then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall _⌊vindicate them_⌋.*

¹⁴ then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

⁵ I said, "O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and awesome one who keeps the covenant and loyal love for the ones who love him and for those who keep his commands.

² Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.* ³ They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law* of Yahweh their God for a fourth part of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God.

³² "And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors,* and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

⁵ I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover. I said, "I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh," and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah

¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

¹⁷ 'Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. _⌊Nothing_⌋* is too difficult for you, ¹⁸ showing loyal love to the thousands, and repaying the guilt of _⌊parents_⌋* into the laps* of their children after them. Powerful, great, mighty, his name is Yahweh of hosts, ¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds,

⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. ⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you. ⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets. ¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. ¹² And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem.

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love. ¹⁹ _⌊He will again have compassion_⌋* on us; he will trample our iniquities. And you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea. ²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors* from the days of old.

² Yahweh is a jealous God and avenging; Yahweh is avenging and _⌊full of wrath_⌋.* Yahweh takes vengeance against his enemies; he rages against his adversaries. ³ Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power; he will certainly not allow the guilty to go unpunished. _⌊He marches_⌋* in storm wind and in gale; storm clouds are the dust of his feet. ⁴ He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither;* the blossom of Lebanon languishes. ⁵ Mountains quake before him; the hills shake apart.* The earth heaves before him— the world and all her inhabitants. ⁶ His indignation—who can stand before it? Who can endure _⌊his fierce anger_⌋?* His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before* him. ⁷ Yahweh is good—a refuge in the day of distress; he knows those who take refuge in him.

⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose,

¹² Blessed is the person* who endures testing, because when he* is approved he will receive the crown of life that he* has promised to those who love him.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

⁸ If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our* sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

² By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and keep his commandments. ³ For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,

⁴⁷ and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,' ⁴⁸ if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors,* the city that you have chosen and the house that you* built for your name, ⁴⁹ then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall _⌊vindicate them_⌋.* ⁵⁰ You shall forgive your people who sinned against you, even for all their transgressions which they committed against you. You shall give them compassion before their captors so that they may have compassion on them,

³⁷ but _⌊if they repent_⌋* in the land where they were taken captive and _⌊repent_⌋* and beg you for mercy in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and acted perversely and done wickedly, ³⁸ and we return to you,' with their whole heart and with all their inmost being in the land of their captivity where they took them captive, and if they pray toward their land that you have given to their ancestors* and the city that you have chosen and to the house that I have built for your name, ³⁹ then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and uphold their case and forgive your people who sinned against you.

⁶ and said, "My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God. For our sins have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.

⁶ Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and confessing the sins of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned. ⁷ We have certainly offended you and have not kept the commands, regulations, and judgments that you have commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Please, remember the word that you have commanded to your servant Moses, saying, 'If you act unfaithfully I will scatter you all among the nations.

³³ You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors* did not keep your law* and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

²¹ Because I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not acted wickedly against my God,

⁶ We have sinned along with our ancestors.* We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt.

¹⁰² I have not turned aside from your ordinances, for you have taught me.

⁶ All of us have wandered about like sheep; we each have turned to his own way; and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all.

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.

⁵ You meet with the one who rejoices, one who does righteousness. In your ways they remember you. Look! You were angry and we sinned against them in ancient times and we were saved. ⁶ And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind. ⁷ And there is no one who calls on your name, who pulls himself up to keep hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us,* and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.

²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors,* from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.'

⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. Yes, our apostasies are many; we have sinned against you.

²⁰ See, O Yahweh, that _⌊I am in distress_⌋;* _⌊my stomach_⌋* is in torment, my heart has turned inside me because I have certainly rebelled. From outside a sword brings bereavement, inside the house it is like death.

⁹ And your fugitives will remember me among the nations to which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by _⌊their adulterous heart_⌋* which departed from me, and by _⌊their adulterous eyes_⌋* which went after their idols, and they will feel loathing _⌊for themselves_⌋,* for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things.

¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

¹⁵ "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

² _⌊At the beginning when Yahweh spoke_⌋* through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife and children of whoredom, because the land commits great whoredom _⌊forsaking Yahweh_⌋."*

⁷ From the days of your ancestors* you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept* them! Return to me and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts, "but you say, 'How shall we return?'

¹² Watch out, brothers, lest there be in some of you an evil, unbelieving heart, with the result that you fall away* from the living God.

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.

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen.

¹⁵ And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 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 From the days of our ancestors* until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors* did not keep your law* and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

¹⁰ who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions, ¹¹ turn aside from the way, turn aside from the path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face."

¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh: "Stand at the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is, and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves.* But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'* ¹⁷ And I raised up watchmen over you: 'Listen attentively to the sound of a horn.' But they said, 'We will not listen attentively.'

¹³ And now, because of your doing all these things," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and _⌊I have spoken to you over and over again_⌋,* and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered,

²⁵ From the day that your ancestors* came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, _⌊sending again and again_⌋.* ²⁶ Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors.*

³ "From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even up to this day, these twenty-three years* the word of Yahweh has come to me, and _⌊I have spoken to you over and over again_⌋,* but you have not listened. ⁴ And though Yahweh has sent all his servants the prophets to you _⌊over and over again_⌋* you have not listened, and you have not inclined your ear to hear, ⁵ _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Turn back please, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your ancestors* from a long time back and until forever, ⁶ and you must not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, and you must not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will not do something bad to you.' ⁷ 'Yet you have not listened to me,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'so that you* have provoked me to anger with the work of your hands for your own harm.'

⁵ to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you, _⌊over and over again_⌋,* though you have not listened,

¹⁹ because they did not listen to my words,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'when I sent to them my servants the prophets, _⌊sending over and over again_⌋,* and they would not listen,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

³² because of all the evil of the people* of Israel and the people* of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men* of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to me their backs* and not their faces, though _⌊I have taught them over and over again_⌋,* but they were not listening to accept discipline.

⁴ And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, _⌊sending over and over again_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* "Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate." ⁵ But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears* to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods.

¹⁶ "Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you!

¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets.

⁴ "Do not be like your ancestors,* to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear* and they did not pay attention* to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵ "Your ancestors,* where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ However, did not my words and my regulations which I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?* And they repented and said, 'Yahweh of hosts planned to do with us according to our ways, and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.'" '"

⁸ And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge with trustworthy justice, and show* steadfast love and compassion _⌊to one another_⌋.* ¹⁰ You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart _⌊against one another_⌋.'* ¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned* a stubborn shoulder and _⌊stopped their ears from listening_⌋.* ¹² _⌊They made their hearts adamant_⌋* in order not to hear the law* and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through* the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

³⁴ And when the season of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. ³⁵ And the tenant farmers seized his slaves, one of whom they beat, and one of whom they killed, and one of whom they stoned. ³⁶ Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first ones, and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷ So finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸ But when* the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!' ³⁹ And they seized him and* threw him* out of the vineyard and killed him.* ⁴⁰ Now when the master of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those tenant farmers?"

³⁷ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together _⌊the way_⌋* a hen gathers her young together under her* wings, and you were not willing!

¹⁰ And at the proper time he sent a slave to the tenant farmers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers sent him away empty-handed after* beating him.* ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave, but they beat and dishonored that one also, and* sent him* away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third, but they wounded and* threw out this one also.

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do 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,

²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they* did not recognize this one, and the voices of the prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled them* by* condemning him.*

¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who persecuted us, and who are not pleasing to God and are opposed to all people, ¹⁶ hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles in order that they may be saved, so that they always fill up their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the end.*

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths.

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_⌋.*

⁴ The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just; he is a faithful God, and _⌊without injustice_⌋;* righteous and upright is he.

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. 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.

⁶ and said, "My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God. For our sins have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors* until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

¹³ After all that has come upon us for our evil practices and for our great guilt—you, our God, have held back less than our guilt deserved and you have given us a remainder such as this.

³³ You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.

¹⁵ _⌊All day long_⌋* my disgrace is before me, and the shame of my face covers me,

⁴ Against you, only you, I have sinned and have done this evil* in your eyes, so that you are correct when you speak, you are blameless when you judge.

¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

¹³⁷ You are righteous, O Yahweh, and your ordinances are upright.

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

¹⁶ All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated; the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.

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

¹ You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you. Even so, let me speak my claims with you. Why does the way of the wicked succeed? All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease.

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

⁶³ in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and _⌊you will not open your mouth again_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

³¹ And you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe _⌊yourself_⌋* over* your iniquities and over your detestable things.

⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you.

¹⁴ So Yahweh has kept watch over the* calamity, and now he has brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God is righteous concerning all his works* that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice.

⁹ "Yes, look, I am going to command and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations like one who shakes with a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

⁴⁰ But the other answered and* rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, because you are undergoing the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving _⌊what we deserve_⌋* for what we have done. But this man has done nothing wrong!"

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

²¹ Therefore what sort of fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

²⁰ We know, O Yahweh, our wickedness, the iniquity of our ancestors,* for we have sinned against you.

⁷ Jerusalem remembers the days of her misery and wanderings, all her treasures that were from the days of long ago. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, there was no one helping her; the enemies saw her, they mocked at her destruction. ⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously, thus she became an objection of derision; all those who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away.

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.

⁴² We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled, you have not forgiven.

¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you.

¹⁷ They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion _⌊determined_⌋* to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them. 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. ¹⁹ But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud that was over them in the day did not cease to leave them on the way, and the column of fire by night that gave light to them on the way that they went.

²⁶ "But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law* behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies. ²⁷ Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemy, and they brought trouble to them. Then in the time of their trouble they cried out to you, and you heard from the heavens, and according to your great compassions, you gave them saviors, and you saved them from the hand of their enemies. ²⁸ But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions.

³¹ But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God.

¹² And to you belongs loyal love, O Lord, because you will render to each according to his work.

⁵ For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, and abundant in loyal love* for all who call to you.

¹⁵ But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.

⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low by their iniquity. ⁴⁴ Yet he looked upon their distress when he heard their cry. ⁴⁵ And he remembered his covenant with them, and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love.

⁴ But with you is forgiveness, so that you may be feared."

⁷ O Israel, wait* for Yahweh. For with Yahweh there is loyal love, and with him there is abundant redemption.

⁸ Yahweh is gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and great in loyal love. ⁹ Yahweh is good to all, and his mercies are over all his works.

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_⌋.*

⁷ I will mention the loyal love of Yahweh, the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has done for us, and the greatness of goodness to the house of Israel that he has done to them according to his mercy and the abundance of his loyal love.

²² The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease; his compassions do not come to an end. ²³ They are new in the morning, great is your faithfulness.

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. ⁹ "But* I acted for the sake of my name _⌊to keep it from being profaned_⌋* before the eyes of the nations _⌊among whom they lived_⌋,* where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt.

¹³ "But* in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them,

⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances.

⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you.

² And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, was this not _⌊what I said_⌋* while I was in my homeland? Therefore _⌊I originally fled_⌋* to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger _⌊and having great steadfast love_⌋,* and one who relents concerning calamity.*

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love. ¹⁹ _⌊He will again have compassion_⌋* on us; he will trample our iniquities. And you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea.

⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, ⁷ in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight,

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, ⁵ and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), ⁶ and raised us together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

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.

¹² because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen to nor did they obey.

¹⁰ "And now our God what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets saying, 'The land that you are entering to possess is a land of impurity with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their detestable things which they have filled from end to end with their uncleanness.

¹³ Then you came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right judgments and true teachings, good regulations and commandments. ¹⁴ You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and law* by the hand of your servant Moses. ¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them. ¹⁶ "But they and our ancestors* acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion _⌊determined_⌋* to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them.

⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land.

¹ Although* God spoke long ago in many parts* and in many ways to the fathers by the prophets,

¹⁴ " 'But* if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out* all these commands, ¹⁵ and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self* abhors my regulations, to not carry out* all my commands by your breaking my covenant, ¹⁶ I _⌊in turn_⌋* will do this to you: then* I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed _⌊in vain_⌋,* and your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷ And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated _⌊before_⌋* your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but* there shall not be _⌊anybody who is pursuing_⌋* you. ¹⁸ " 'And if in spite of these things you do not listen to me, then* I will continue to discipline you seven times for your sins. ¹⁹ And I will break the pride of your strength; and I will make your heaven like iron* and your land like copper. ²⁰ And your strength shall be consumed _⌊in vain_⌋;* and your land shall not give its produce, and the land's trees shall not give their fruit. ²¹ " 'And if you go against me in hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then* I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins. ²² And I will send _⌊wild animals_⌋* out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate. ²³ " 'And if you do not accept correction from* me through these things, but* you go against me in hostility, ²⁴ then* I myself* will also go against you in hostility, and I myself* also will strike you seven times for your sins. ²⁵ And I will bring upon you a sword that seeks vengeance for the covenant, and you shall be gathered to your cities; and I will send a plague in your midst, and you shall be given into the hand of an enemy. ²⁶ At my breaking the _⌊supply_⌋* of bread* for you, then* ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight; and you shall eat it, and you shall not be satisfied. ²⁷ " 'And if through this you do not listen to me and you go against me in hostility, ²⁸ then* I will go against you in hostile anger, and also* I myself* will discipline you seven times for your sins. ²⁹ And you shall eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat. 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. ³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵ All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest for the time* that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it. ³⁶ As for* the ones who remain among you, I will bring* fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight _⌊before_⌋* a sword, and they shall fall, but* there shall not be a pursuer. ³⁷ And they shall stumble over _⌊one another_⌋* as _⌊from before_⌋* a sword, but* there shall not be a pursuer; and _⌊you shall have no resistance_⌋* _⌊before_⌋* your enemies. ³⁸ And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you. ³⁹ And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors,* they shall decay with them. ⁴⁰ " 'But* when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors* in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility— ⁴¹ I myself* also* went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt, ⁴² I will remember* my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ And the land shall be deserted by them, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths in its being desolate from them, and they themselves* must pay for their guilt, _⌊simply because_⌋* they rejected my regulations, and their inner self* abhorred my statutes. ⁴⁴ And _⌊in spite of_⌋* this, _⌊when they are_⌋* in the land of their enemies I will not reject them, and I will not abhor them to destroy them, to break my covenant with them, because I am Yahweh their God. ⁴⁵ And I will remember the first covenant for them*—whom I brought out from the land of Egypt _⌊in the sight of_⌋* the nations _⌊to be their God_⌋.* I am Yahweh.'" ⁴⁶ These are the rules and the regulations and the laws that Yahweh gave between himself and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* on _⌊Mount Sinai_⌋* _⌊through_⌋* Moses.

¹⁵ 'Cursed be the man that makes a divine image or a cast image, which is a detestable thing for Yahweh, the work of the hand of a skilled craftsman, and then sets it in a hiding place.'* And _⌊all the people shall respond_⌋,* 'Amen.' ¹⁶ 'Cursed be the one who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all of the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁷ 'Cursed be the one who moves the boundary marker of his neighbor.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁸ 'Cursed be the one who misleads a blind person on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁹ 'Cursed be the one who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁰ 'Cursed be the one who lies with the wife of his father, because _⌊he has dishonored his father's bed_⌋.'* And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²¹ 'Cursed be the one who lies with any kind of animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²² 'Cursed be the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²³ 'Cursed be the one who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁴ 'Cursed be the one who strikes down his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁵ 'Cursed be the one who takes a bribe _⌊to murder an innocent person_⌋.'* And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁶ 'Cursed be the one _⌊who does not keep_⌋* the words of this law, to observe them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'"

¹⁵ "_⌊And then_⌋* if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God _⌊by diligently observing_⌋* all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you: ¹⁶ "You shall* be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. ¹⁷ "Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough. ¹⁸ "The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock. ¹⁹ "You shall be cursed _⌊when you come in_⌋,* and you shall be cursed _⌊when you go out_⌋.* ²⁰ "Yahweh will send upon you* the curse,* the panic,* and the threat* _⌊in everything that you undertake_⌋,* _⌊until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* the evil of your deeds in that* you have forsaken me. ²¹ Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you _⌊until it consumes you_⌋* from the land that you are going to,* to take possession of it. ²² Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword* and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you _⌊until you perish_⌋.* ²³ And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron. ²⁴ Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you _⌊until you are destroyed_⌋.* ²⁵ "Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated _⌊before_⌋* your enemies; on one road you shall go _⌊against_⌋* them,* but you will flee on seven roads _⌊before_⌋* them,* and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be _⌊anyone to frighten them away_⌋.* ²⁷ "Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with _⌊the skin rash that cannot be healed_⌋.* ²⁸ Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. ²⁹ And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed _⌊all the time_⌋,* and there will not be _⌊anyone who will rescue you_⌋. * 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. ³¹ Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right _⌊before you_⌋,* and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and _⌊there shall not be anyone who rescues you_⌋.* ³² Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and _⌊you will be looking on_⌋* _⌊longingly_⌋* for* them all day, _⌊but you will be powerless to do anything_⌋.* ³³ A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed _⌊for the rest of your lives_⌋.* ³⁴ You shall become mad _⌊because of what your eyes shall see_⌋.* ³⁵ Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which _⌊you will not be able to be healed_⌋,* from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. ³⁶ Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors* have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there. 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.* ⁴⁰ There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives* shall drop off. ⁴¹ You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be _⌊yours_⌋,* for they shall go into captivity. ⁴² The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. ⁴³ The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail. ⁴⁵ "And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you _⌊until you are destroyed_⌋,* because _⌊you did not listen_⌋* to the voice of Yahweh your God, _⌊by observing_⌋* his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. ⁴⁶ And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring _⌊forever_⌋.* ⁴⁷ "_⌊Because_⌋* of the fact that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸ then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place* a yoke of iron on your neck _⌊until he has destroyed you_⌋.* ⁴⁹ Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, _⌊a nation whose language you will not understand_⌋,* ⁵⁰ _⌊a grim-faced nation_⌋* _⌊who does not show respect_⌋* to the old and the young and does not show pity. ⁵¹ And it* shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground _⌊until you are destroyed_⌋,* and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, _⌊calves of your herds_⌋,* and _⌊lambs of_⌋* your flock _⌊until it has destroyed you_⌋.* ⁵² And it shall besiege you in all your towns _⌊until your high and fortified walls fall_⌋,* which you are trusting in* _⌊throughout your land_⌋;* and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. ⁵³ And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, _⌊during the siege and during the distress_⌋* your enemy inflicts upon you. ⁵⁴ The most refined and the very sensitive* man among you _⌊shall be mean with his brother_⌋* and _⌊against his beloved wife_⌋* and against the rest* of his children that he has left over, ⁵⁵ _⌊by refraining from giving_⌋* to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him _⌊during the siege and distress_⌋* that your enemy inflicts upon you. ⁵⁶ The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall* not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, _⌊shall be mean to her beloved husband_⌋* and against her son and against her daughter, ⁵⁷ and even concerning her afterbirth _⌊that goes out_⌋* from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret _⌊during the siege and during the distress_⌋* that your enemy inflicts upon her in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ⁵⁸ "If _⌊you do not diligently observe_⌋* all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, ⁵⁹ then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. ⁶⁰ And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt concerning which _⌊you were in dread_⌋* _⌊because of them_⌋.* ⁶¹ Also any illness and any plague* that is not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. 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. ⁶³ _⌊And then_⌋* as Yahweh delighted over you _⌊to make you prosperous_⌋* to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you* and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it. ⁶⁴ And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor* your ancestors,* gods of wood and stone. ⁶⁵ And among these nations you shall not find rest, and there shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes* and a languishing of your inner self.* ⁶⁶ And _⌊your life shall hang in doubt before you_⌋,* and you shall be startled* night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you shall say, '_⌊If only it was evening_⌋!'* and in the evening you shall say '_⌊If only it was morning_⌋!'* because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. ⁶⁸ And Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt in ships by the route that I _⌊promised_⌋* to you that '_⌊You shall not see it again_⌋!'* And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer."

²⁰ Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law. ²² "And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when* they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, ²³ 'All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, _⌊none of its land will be sown_⌋,* and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.' ²⁴ And all the nations will say, '_⌊Why_⌋* has Yahweh done _⌊such a thing_⌋* to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?' ²⁵ And they will say,* 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* which he _⌊made_⌋* with them _⌊when he brought them out_⌋* from the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he* had not allotted to them. ²⁷ So _⌊the anger of Yahweh was kindled_⌋* against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, ²⁸ and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, _⌊just as it is today_⌋.'* ²⁹ "The hidden things _⌊belong to Yahweh_⌋* our God, but the revealed things _⌊belong to us_⌋* to know and to our children _⌊forever_⌋,* in order to do all the words of this law."

¹⁷ However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you _⌊today_⌋* that you will certainly perish; _⌊you will not extend your time_⌋* on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it. ¹⁹ I invoke as a witness against you _⌊today_⌋* the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set _⌊before you_⌋,* blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,*

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

¹⁹ Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. ²⁰ So he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what will be their end, for they are a generation of perversity, _⌊children in whom there is no faithfulness_⌋.* ²¹ They annoyed me with what is not a god; they provoked me with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those not a people, with a foolish nation I will provoke them. ²² For a fire was kindled* by my anger, and it burned _⌊up to the depths of Sheol_⌋,* and it devoured the earth and its produce, and it set afire the foundation of the mountains. ²³ I will heap disasters upon them; my arrows I will spend on them. ²⁴ They will become weakened by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter pestilence; and the teeth of wild animals I will send against them, with the poison of the creeping things in the dust; ²⁵ From outside her boundaries the sword will make her childless, and from inside, terror; both for the young man and also the young woman, the infant along with the gray-headed man. ²⁶ I thought, "I will wipe them out; _⌊I will make people forget they ever existed_⌋."* ²⁷ If I had not feared a provocation of the enemy, lest their foes might misunderstand, * lest they should say, * "Our hand is _⌊triumphant_⌋,* and Yahweh did not do all this." ' ²⁸ For _⌊they are a nation void of sense_⌋,* and there is not any understanding in them. ²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern _⌊for themselves their end_⌋.* ³⁰ How could one chase a thousand and two could cause a myriad to flee, if their Rock had not sold them, and Yahweh had not given them up? ³¹ For the fact of the matter is, their rock is not like our Rock, and our enemies recognize* this. ³² For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the terraces of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; _⌊their clusters are bitter_⌋.* ³³ Their wine is the poison of snakes, and the deadly poison of horned vipers. ³⁴ 'Is not this stored up with me, sealed in my treasuries?'* ³⁵ _⌊Vengeance belongs to me_⌋* and also recompense, _⌊for at the time their foot slips_⌋,* because the day of their disaster is near, _⌊and fate comes quickly for them_⌋.'* ³⁶ For Yahweh will judge on behalf of his people, and concerning his servants; he will change his mind when he sees that their power has disappeared, and there is no one left, confined* or free.* ³⁷ And he will say, 'Where are their gods, their rock in whom* they took refuge? ³⁸ Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up, and let them help you; _⌊Let them be to you a refuge_⌋.* ³⁹ See, now, that I, even I am he, and there is not a god besides me; I put to death and I give life; I wound and I heal; there is not one who delivers from my hand! ⁴⁰ For indeed I lift up my hand to heaven, And I promise _⌊as I live forever_⌋,* ⁴¹ When I sharpen* _⌊my flashing sword_⌋,* and my hand takes hold* of it in judgment, _⌊I will take reprisals against my foes_⌋,* and my haters I will repay. ⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain, and captives* from the heads* of the leaders of the enemy.'

¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone. ¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced, ²⁰ so Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel and punished them, and he gave them into the hand of the plunderers until he banished them from his presence. ²¹ For he had torn Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king, but Jeroboam detached Israel from following Yahweh, and he made them sin a great sin. ²² The _⌊Israelites_⌋* walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed, and they did not depart from it, ²³ until Yahweh removed Israel from his presence as he had foretold by the hand of all his servants, the prophets. And so he deported Israel from upon his land to Assyria until this day.

⁴ Ah, sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh; they have despised the holy one of Israel. They are estranged and gone backward. ⁵ Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue in rebellion. The whole of the head is sick, and the whole of the heart is faint. ⁶ From the sole of the foot and up to the head there is no health in it; bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed, and they have not been bound up and not softened with the oil.

⁵ Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy? They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.* ⁶ I have listened attentively, and I have listened. They do not speak honestly, there is no man who regrets his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' All of them are turning to their ways of running, like a horse plunging into battle. ⁷ Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time, and the turtledove, and the swallow, and the song bird, they observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the ordinance* of Yahweh. ⁸ How can you say, 'We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us'? Look, surely _⌊the lying stylus of the scribes_⌋* has made it a lie. ⁹ The wise will be put to shame, they will be dismayed, and they will get taken. Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, and what is wisdom to them? ¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.

²⁶ Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to the side, those who live in the desert,* for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart."

²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. ²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken. ²⁹ They severely oppress the people of the land, and _⌊they committed robbery_⌋,* and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien _⌊without_⌋* justice. ³⁰ And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach _⌊before me_⌋* on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone, ³¹ and so I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁹ Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?"

¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped, and he makes fools of judges.

¹⁰ So then, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth.

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.

¹¹ kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth,

¹⁶ By me rulers rule, and nobles—all judges of righteousness.

²⁶ who keeps* the word of his servant and carries out the plan of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be rebuilt, and I will restore its ruins';

² "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the towns of Judah. And look, they are a site of ruins this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant, ³ _⌊because of_⌋* their wickedness that they committed to provoke me to anger by going to make smoke offerings, serving other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, or your ancestors.* ⁴ And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, _⌊sending over and over again_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* "Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate." ⁵ But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears* to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods. ⁶ So my wrath and my anger were poured out* and burned* in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became as a site of ruins, as a desolation, as they are this day.'

¹² Is it nothing to you, _⌊all who pass by_⌋?* Look and see if there is sorrow like my sorrow,* which was dealt to me, which Yahweh inflicted on the _⌊day of his wrath_⌋.*

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?

¹⁷ Yahweh has done what he has planned; he has fulfilled his promise that he ordained from the days of old; he has demolished and not shown mercy; he has made an enemy rejoice over you, he has exalted the _⌊might_⌋* of your foes.

⁶ The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom; it was overthrown in a moment and no hands were laid on her.

⁹ and I will do with you that which I have not done, and which I will not do again, because of all of your detestable things.

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

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_⌋.*

² "You only have I _⌊chosen_⌋* of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

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

⁸ _⌊I had a vision in the night_⌋,* and look, a man riding on a red horse. And he was standing between the myrtle shrubs that were in the ravine, and behind him were red, reddish-brown, and white horses.

¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place.

²¹ For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen.

¹⁹ For in those days there will be tribulation of such a kind as has not happened from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will happen.

²² because these are days of vengeance, so that all the things that are written can be fulfilled.

⁸ For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers,

⁴ But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even _⌊to this day_⌋.*

¹³ And the godless of heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.

⁴ Restore us, O God of our salvation, and annul your vexation with us.

¹⁸ Uncover my eyes, that I may look at* wonderful things from your law.

²⁷ Make me understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful things.

⁷³ Your hands have made me and established me; give me understanding that I may learn your commands.

¹³ And the people did not turn to the one who struck it,* and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts.

⁹ Look! the former things have come, and I declare new things. I _⌊announce_⌋* them to you before they sprout up."

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

³⁰ "For _⌊in vain_⌋* I have struck your children. They accepted no discipline. Your sword devoured your prophets, like a ravening* lion.

³ O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty? You have struck them, but they felt no pain, you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, they have refused to turn back.

¹⁸ Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves, 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like a calf that is not trained. Bring me back and let me return, for you are Yahweh my God.

²⁷ Look, I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good, and all people* of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by the famine until their perishing.

¹⁵ They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?" ¹⁶ They have opened their mouths against you, all your enemies. They hiss and gnash a tooth, and they say, "We have destroyed her! Surely this is the day we have hoped for; we have found it, we have seen it!" ¹⁷ Yahweh has done what he has planned; he has fulfilled his promise that he ordained from the days of old; he has demolished and not shown mercy; he has made an enemy rejoice over you, he has exalted the _⌊might_⌋* of your foes.

²¹ Restore us to you, O Yahweh, that we will be restored; renew our days as of old.

⁷ All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour* their rulers. All their kings have fallen; there is none who calls to me amongst them.

¹⁰ The pride of Israel _⌊testifies against him_⌋*— they do not return to Yahweh their God; they do not seek him for all of this.*

¹⁴ They do not cry out to me from their heart, but they wail on their beds; because of grain and new wine they lacerate* themselves; they depart from me.

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.'* Everyone who hears from the Father and learns comes to me.

³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

³⁵ If he called them 'gods' to whom the word of God came—and the scripture cannot be broken—

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, _⌊the glorious Father_⌋*,* may give you a spirit of wisdom* and revelation in the knowledge of him ¹⁸ (the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints,

²¹ if indeed you have heard about him, and you were taught by him (just as truth is in Jesus),

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for it from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him.

²⁸ _⌊And then_⌋* as I have watched over them to pull up, and to tear down, and to annihilate, and to destroy, and to do evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land."

⁶ Therefore say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the _⌊forced labor_⌋* of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments.

¹⁶ But for the sake of this I have caused you to stand—for the sake of showing you my strength and in order to proclaim my name in all the earth.

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* so that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol _⌊and the sea_⌋;* before Baal Zephon, which is opposite it, you will camp by the sea. ³ And Pharaoh will say of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'They are wandering around in the land. The desert has closed in on them.' ⁴ And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and he will chase after them, and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh." And they did so. ⁵ And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh was changed and that of his servants toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have released Israel from serving us!" ⁶ And he harnessed his chariot and took with him his people. ⁷ And he took six hundred select chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and officers over all of them. ⁸ And Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and he chased after the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* (Now the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were going out _⌊boldly_⌋.*) ⁹ And the Egyptians chased after them, and they overtook them encamped at the sea—all the horses of the chariots of Pharaoh and his charioteers and his army—at Pi-hahiroth before Baal Zephon. ¹⁰ And Pharaoh approached, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* lifted their eyes, and there were the Egyptians traveling after them! And they were very afraid, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹ And they said to Moses, "Because there are no graves in Egypt? Is that why you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this you have done to us by bringing us out from Egypt! ¹² Isn't this the word we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone so that we can serve Egypt!' because serving Egypt is better for us than our dying in the desert." ¹³ And Moses said to the people, "You must not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will accomplish for you today, because the Egyptians whom you see today you will see never again. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you must be quiet." ¹⁵ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* so that they set out.*

¹⁸ And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I display my glory through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his charioteers."

¹¹ And Moses _⌊implored Yahweh_⌋* his God, and he said, "Why, Yahweh, should _⌊your anger blaze_⌋* against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

⁵¹ for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron.

¹⁰ They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

¹⁰ You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

⁸ Yet he saved them for the sake of his name, to make known his might.

¹³ Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper shall go up; instead of the brier, the myrtle shall go up, and it shall serve as a memorial to Yahweh, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

¹⁰ And I signed on the letter* and sealed it,* and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales.

²⁰ who accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among humankind, and you have made for yourself a name, as it is this day. ²¹ And you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an arm stretched out, and with great terror. ²² And you gave to them this land, which you swore to their ancestors* to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice, and they did not follow your law. They did nothing of all that you commanded to them to do, and you caused to happen to them all this disaster.

¹⁸ I will set out and* go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and _⌊in your sight_⌋!* ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.'

²¹ And his* son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and _⌊in your sight_⌋!* I am no longer worthy to be called your son!'

¹³ But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

¹⁰ who delivered us from so great a risk of death, and will deliver us, in whom we have put our hope that he will also deliver us again,

⁵ You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations* of those hating me,

³⁹ And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors,* they shall decay with them. ⁴⁰ " 'But* when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors* in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility—

⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and also exalts.

⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples. ⁸ This house shall become a heap of ruins; all those passing by will be appalled by it and hiss, and they will say, 'On what account did Yahweh do this to this land and to this house?' ⁹ And they will say, 'Because they have forsaken Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors* out from the land of Egypt and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore, Yahweh brought on them all of this disaster.'"

⁸ You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—to give it to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

¹ For the music director. A psalm of David.*
In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge. Let me not be put to shame ever. Deliver me by your righteousness.

¹³ Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

² In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.

⁴ We have become a taunt to our neighbors, a derision and a scorn to those around us.

¹ Of the sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.*
His foundation is on the holy mountains. ² Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. ³ Glorious things are spoken about* you, O city of God. Selah

⁶ We have sinned along with our ancestors.* We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt. ⁷ Our ancestors* in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works. They did not remember your many acts of loyal love, and so they rebelled by the sea at _⌊the Red Sea_⌋.* ⁸ Yet he saved them for the sake of his name, to make known his might. ⁹ So he rebuked _⌊the Red Sea_⌋,* and it dried up, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. ¹⁰ Thus he saved them from the hand of the hater and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. ¹¹ But waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. ¹² Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. ¹³ They quickly forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. ¹⁴ And they _⌊craved intensely_⌋* in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. ¹⁵ So he gave to them their request, but he sent leanness into their souls.* ¹⁶ And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh. ¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and it covered over the gang of Abiram. ¹⁸ Also fire burned in their assembly; the flame devoured the wicked. ¹⁹ They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a cast image. ²⁰ And so they exchanged their glory for an image of an ox that eats grass. ²¹ They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, ²² wonders in the land of Ham, awesome deeds by _⌊the Red Sea_⌋.* ²³ So he said he would exterminate them, had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to reverse his wrath from destroying them. ²⁴ Then they refused the desirable land; they did not believe his word, ²⁵ but grumbled in their tents. They did not obey the voice of Yahweh. ²⁶ So _⌊he made an oath_⌋* against them, to make them drop in the wilderness, ²⁷ and to disperse* their _⌊descendants_⌋* among the nations and to scatter them among the lands. ²⁸ They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.* ²⁹ Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. ³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and so the plague was stopped, ³¹ and it was reckoned to him as righteousness _⌊throughout all generations_⌋.* ³² They also angered God at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them, ³³ because they rebelled against his Spirit,* and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips. ³⁴ They did not exterminate the peoples, as Yahweh had commanded them, * ³⁵ but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, ³⁶ and served their idols, which became* a snare to them. ³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, ³⁸ and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and so the land was defiled with the blood.* ³⁹ And they became unclean by their works, and were unfaithful in their deeds. ⁴⁰ So Yahweh's anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance. ⁴¹ Then he gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. ⁴² And their enemies oppressed them, and they were subdued under their hand. ⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low by their iniquity. ⁴⁴ Yet he looked upon their distress when he heard their cry. ⁴⁵ And he remembered his covenant with them, and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love. ⁴⁶ And he _⌊let them find compassion_⌋* before all their captors. ⁴⁷ Save us, O Yahweh our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to your holy name and boast in your praise. ⁴⁸ Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise Yah.*

¹ A psalm of David.*
O Yahweh, hear my prayer; listen to my supplications. In your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness.

⁹ You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh, and you must not remember iniquity forever!
Look! Behold, now! We all are your people! ¹⁰ _⌊Your holy cities_⌋* have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ _⌊Our holy and beautiful temple_⌋,* where our ancestors* praised you has _⌊been burned_⌋* by fire, and all our precious objects have become ruins.*

¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,

³² because of all the evil of the people* of Israel and the people* of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men* of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously, thus she became an objection of derision; all those who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away. ⁹ Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she did not remember her future, she has descended beyond understanding, there is no comforter for her. See, O Yahweh, my persecution! My enemy has been made great!

¹⁵ They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?" ¹⁶ They have opened their mouths against you, all your enemies. They hiss and gnash a tooth, and they say, "We have destroyed her! Surely this is the day we have hoped for; we have found it, we have seen it!"

¹⁴ And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of _⌊every one who passes by_⌋.*

²⁰ Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh my God, on behalf _⌊of the holy mountain of my God_⌋.*

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.

⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. ⁵ O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh."

³ Thus says Yahweh: 'I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be called the faithful city,* and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the holy mountain.'

³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets! ³² And you—fill up the measure of your fathers!

⁴⁷ Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! ⁴⁸ As a result you are witnesses, and you approve of the deeds of your fathers, because they killed them and you build their tombs!* ⁴⁹ For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple building.* Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation!

⁶ since it is righteous in the sight of God to pay back those who are afflicting you with affliction,

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our* sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

²³ "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'You will bless the _⌊Israelites_⌋:* You will say to them: ²⁴ Yahweh will bless you and keep you; ²⁵ Yahweh will make shine his face on you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ Yahweh will lift up his face upon you, and he will give you peace.'

⁶ Many are saying, "Who will show us something good?" Lift up over* us the light of your face, O Yahweh.

¹ For the music director, with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.*
May God be gracious to us and bless us. May he cause his face to shine toward us, Selah

¹ For the music director, according to The Lilies. A testimony. Of Asaph. A psalm.*
Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock. Shine forth, you who sits enthroned above the cherubim.

³ O God, restore us, and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.

⁷ O God of hosts, restore us and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.

¹⁹ O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us; cause your face to shine that we may be saved.

¹³⁵ Shine your face on your servant, and teach me your statutes.

¹⁸ Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, _⌊foxes tread on it_⌋.*

¹⁹ Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay _⌊for your sake_⌋,* my God; because _⌊your city and your people are called by your name_⌋."*

²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

²⁰ For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are "yes"; therefore also through him is the "amen" to the glory of God through us.

²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

⁷ And Yahweh said, "Surely I have seen the misery of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of distress because of their oppressors, for I know their sufferings.

²⁹ so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, 'My name will be there,' to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

¹⁶ Incline your ears and hear; open, O Yahweh, your eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to insult the living God.

⁶ As for me, I have called on you because you will answer me, O God. Incline your ear to me. Hear my words.* ⁷ Show wondrously your acts of loyal love, O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand* from those who rise up against them.

¹⁴ Please return, O God of hosts. Observe from heaven and see, and pay attention to this vine, ¹⁵ eventhe stalk that your right hand planted, and concerning the shoot* you strengthened for yourself. ¹⁶ It is burned with fire, cut down. They perish at the rebuke of your face. ¹⁷ Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of humankind whom you made strong for yourself. ¹⁸ Then we will not turn back from you. Restore us to life, and we will proclaim your name. ¹⁹ O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us; cause your face to shine that we may be saved.

¹⁷ Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God!

¹⁵ Look from heaven, and see from the lofty residence of your holiness and glory. Where are your zeal and strength? _⌊Your compassion_⌋* and mercy to me hold themselves back. ¹⁶ For you are our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh are our father, Our Redeemer from of old is your name. ¹⁷ Why do you make us wander, Yahweh? You harden our heart from your ways _⌊so that we do not fear_⌋* you. Turn back for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. ¹⁸ _⌊Your holy people_⌋* took possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. ¹⁹ We have been since antiquity; you did not rule them; _⌊they were not called by your name_⌋.*

⁶ And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind.

¹² Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh? Will you be silent? And will you oppress us exceedingly?

¹⁰ And then you come and you stand _⌊before_⌋* me in this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* and you say, 'we are safe _⌊to go on doing_⌋* all of these detestable things.' ¹¹ Has this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," * _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹² "For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it _⌊because of_⌋* the wickedness of my people Israel.

⁹ Why should you be like a confused man, like a warrior who is not able to help? Yet you are in our midst, O Yahweh, and your name is called upon us. You must not leave us!

¹⁶ Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me as jubilation, even as the joy of my heart, for your name is called on me, O Yahweh God of hosts.

²⁹ For look, on the city that is called _⌊by_⌋* my name I am beginning to inflict harm, and you indeed, will you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.'

⁷ Perhaps their plea will fall _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh and each one will turn away from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh pronounced against this people."

²⁰ Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall _⌊before you_⌋.* You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there."

³² But not for your sake am I acting," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. "Let it be known to you, be ashamed, and be put to shame because of your ways, house of Israel.

² to the church of God sanctified in Christ Jesus that is in Corinth,* called to be saints, together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord* and ours.

¹⁹ Please forgive the sin of this people according to the greatness of your loyal love, just as you _⌊forgave_⌋* this people, from Egypt until now."

³⁰ You must listen to the plea of your servant and your people Israel which they pray toward this place; and you must hear from the place where you live, from heaven you must hear and you must forgive. ³¹ If a man sins against his neighbor and he pronounces an oath against him to curse him, and the curse comes before your altar in this house, ³² then you shall hear in heaven and you shall act and you shall judge your servant, to declare the wicked guilty by bringing his way upon his head and _⌊to declare the righteous innocent_⌋* by rewarding him according to his righteousness. ³³ When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy _⌊because_⌋* they sinned against you, and when they turn to you and confess your name and pray and beg for mercy from you in this house, ³⁴ then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you shall bring them back to the ground which you gave to their ancestors.* ³⁵ When you shut up the heavens so there is no rain because they have sinned against you, then they pray to this place and they confess your name and they return from their sin because you punished them, ³⁶ then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you will teach them the good way in which they should go, and you will give rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. ³⁷ If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease, ³⁸ any prayer or any plea which is offered by any person for all of your people Israel, who each knows the infestation of his own heart and spreads out his palms to this house, ³⁹ then you shall hear in heaven the place of your dwelling, and you shall forgive and act and give to the man whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man.

²¹ And listen to the pleas of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place, that you yourself might hear from the place of your dwelling, from the heavens, that you might hear and forgive.

²⁵ then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel and again bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.* ²⁶ "When the heavens are stopped up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and they pray to this place and confess your name and turn back from their sin when you humble them, ²⁷ then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. ²⁸ "If there is a famine in the land; if there is disease, blight, mildew, locust, and caterpillar; if it happens that his enemy lays siege to him in the land and his gates; any kind of plague, any kind of disease, ²⁹ then any prayer, any plea that is made by any person and by all your people Israel, each one who knows his own affliction and his own anguish and who spreads out his hands to this house, ³⁰ then may you yourself hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and forgive and give to each according to all his ways, since you know the heart of the children of humankind,

³⁹ then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and uphold their case and forgive your people who sinned against you.

²³ Wake up! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake! Do not reject forever. ²⁴ Why do you hide your face? Have you forgotten our misery and our oppression? ²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our _⌊body_⌋* clings to the ground. ²⁶ Rise up! Be a help for us, and redeem us for the sake of your loyal love.

⁹ We do not see our signs, and there is no longer a prophet. No one with us knows how long. ¹⁰ How long, O God, will the adversary taunt? Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever? ¹¹ Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your bosom;* destroy them!

⁵ How long, O Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? ⁶ Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,

⁸ Do not remember against us former iniquities; let your mercies meet us quickly because we are brought very low. ⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; and deliver us and forgive* our sins for the sake of your name. ¹⁰ Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it* be known among the nations before our eyes, by the avenging of the blood of your servants that was poured out.

⁵ Will you be angry against us forever? Will you prolong your anger generation after generation? ⁶ Will you not again revive us, that your people might rejoice in you?

¹³ You rise up and take pity on Zion, because it is time to favor it, for the appointed time has come. ¹⁴ Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to its dust. ¹⁵ Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh, and all the kings of the earth your glory. ¹⁶ For Yahweh will rebuild Zion; he will appear in his glory.

¹ Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, because of your loyal love, because of your faithfulness. ² Why should the nations say, "Where, _⌊pray tell_⌋,* is their God?"

⁹ You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh, and you must not remember iniquity forever!
Look! Behold, now! We all are your people! ¹⁰ _⌊Your holy cities_⌋* have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ _⌊Our holy and beautiful temple_⌋,* where our ancestors* praised you has _⌊been burned_⌋* by fire, and all our precious objects have become ruins.* ¹² Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh? Will you be silent? And will you oppress us exceedingly?

²⁰ We know, O Yahweh, our wickedness, the iniquity of our ancestors,* for we have sinned against you. ²¹ You must not spurn us* for the sake of your name, you must not dishonor _⌊your glorious throne_⌋.* Remember us!* You must not break your covenant with us.

⁹ "But* I acted for the sake of my name _⌊to keep it from being profaned_⌋* before the eyes of the nations _⌊among whom they lived_⌋,* where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations _⌊before whom I brought them out_⌋.*

²² But I withheld my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name not to be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I had brought them out before their eyes.

²² "Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊Not for your sake_⌋ * am I about to act, house of Israel, _⌊but_⌋* _⌊for my holy name_⌋,* which you defiled among the nations _⌊to which you went_⌋.*

²⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have compassion on all of the house of Israel, and I will be jealous* for _⌊my holy name_⌋.*

¹⁸ Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy _⌊before you_⌋* because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion.

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?"

⁸ I tell you, even if he does not give him anything* after he* gets up because he is his friend, at any rate because of his impudence* he will get up and* give him whatever he needs.

⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved,

¹² that we who hoped beforehand in Christ should be for the praise of his glory,

¹⁰ in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places through the church,

⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.* ⁶ Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if do not I exalt Jerusalem above my highest joy.

¹⁸ Yahweh is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

²⁰ Surely there is no one righteous on the earth who continually does good and never sins.

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

⁷ I will bring them to _⌊my holy mountain_⌋;* I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices _⌊will be accepted_⌋* on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,"

⁹ Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I am!' If you remove from among you the yoke, the _⌊finger-pointing_⌋* and _⌊evil speech_⌋,*

⁶ I have appointed watchmen upon your walls, Jerusalem; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who profess Yahweh have no rest. ⁷ And you must not give him rest until he establishes, and until he _⌊makes_⌋* Jerusalem _⌊an object of praise_⌋* in the earth.

²⁴ And this will happen: before they call, I myself will answer; while still they are speaking, I myself will hear.

³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy,* in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments,

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

² In those days, I, Daniel, I myself* was in mourning _⌊for three whole weeks_⌋.*

³¹ And when* they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak* the word* of God with boldness.

³⁰ And Cornelius said, "_⌊Four days ago at this hour_⌋,* the ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man in shining clothing stood before me ³¹ and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your charitable deeds have been remembered before God.

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

² For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual,* able to hold in check his whole body also.

² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

³⁹ The first lamb you will offer in the morning, and the second lamb you will offer _⌊at twilight_⌋.*

³⁶ It happened at the offering of the evening oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all of these things by your words.

⁴ Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the sin of the returned exiles were gathered around me and I sat appalled until the evening offering. ⁵ At the evening offering I got up from my mourning posture and, with my garment and robe torn, I fell down on my knees and I spread out my palms to Yahweh my God

²⁰ Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty heroes who do his word by _⌊obeying_⌋* the sound of his word.

⁴ who makes his messengers the winds, his attendants a flame of fire.

² Seraphs were standing above him. _⌊Each had six wings_⌋:* with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and he said,
"Look! This has touched your lips and has removed your guilt, and your sin is annulled."

¹¹ So were their faces; their wings were spread out _⌊upward_⌋;* each had two touching one another and two covering their bodies.

¹⁴ And the living creatures _⌊were speeding to and fro_⌋* like the appearance of lightning.

¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a human at the Ulai, and he called and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

¹⁸ And _⌊when he spoke_⌋* with me I fell into a trance with my face to the ground, and he touched me and made me stand on by feet.

¹⁰ And look, a hand touched me and it roused me to my knees* and the palms* of my hands.

¹⁶ Then look, there was _⌊one in the form of a human_⌋;* he touched my lips and I opened my mouth and I spoke and I said to the one standing _⌊before me_⌋,* "My lord, because of the vision my anxieties fell upon me and I have not retained my strength.

¹⁸ And _⌊he again touched_⌋* me, _⌊the one in the form of a human_⌋,* and he strengthened me.

⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?")*

¹⁹ And the angel answered and* said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.

¹ Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

³ About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, "Cornelius."

⁹ And the next day, as* they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour.

⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood near him,* and a light shone in the prison cell. And striking Peter's side, he woke him up, saying, "Get up _⌊quickly_⌋!"* And his chains fell off of his* hands.

⁷ And concerning the angels he says,
"The one who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire,"*

¹⁴ Are they not all spirits engaged in special service, sent on assignment for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?

²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.* ²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.* ²⁶ "And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one* shall be cut off, and _⌊he shall have nothing_⌋,* and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,* and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering _⌊and in its place_⌋* a desolating abomination comes even until _⌊the determined complete destruction_⌋* is poured out on the desolator."

²¹ However, I will tell you _⌊what is inscribed_⌋* in the book of truth, and there is not one who contends with me against these beings _⌊except_⌋* Michael, your prince."

⁹ And I asked, "What are these, my lord?" And the angel who was talking with me said, "I will show you what these are."

¹⁴ And the angel who was talking with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "_⌊I am very jealous_⌋* for Jerusalem and for Zion!

⁴ And I answered and said to the angel that was talking to me, "What are these, my lord?" ⁵ And the angel answered and said to me, "These are the four winds* of the heavens going out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

¹ After these things I looked, and behold, an open door in heaven, and the former voice that I had heard like a trumpet speaking with me was saying, "Come up here and I will show you the things which must take place after these things."

¹⁰ _⌊I belong to my beloved_⌋,* _⌊and he desires me_⌋!*

¹⁶ "Son of man,* look! I am taking from you what is pleasing to your eyes with a plague,* but you shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not run down.

¹² And they will plunder your wealth, and they will loot your merchandise, and they will break down your walls, and the houses of your delight they will break down, and your stones and your timbers and your earthen dirt they will cast into the midst of the water.

¹¹ And he said to me, "Daniel, a man beloved, pay attention to the words that I am speaking to you and _⌊stand upright where you are_⌋,* for I have now been sent to you." And _⌊while he was speaking_⌋* with me this word,* I stood up trembling. ¹² And he said to me, "You must not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself _⌊before_⌋* your God, your words were heard, and I myself* have come because of your words.

¹⁹ And he said, "You must not fear, O beloved man. _⌊Peace be to you_⌋;* be strong and be courageous!" And _⌊when he spoke_⌋* with me, I was strengthened and I said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

²⁸ And he came to her and* said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

¹⁵ and he slaughtered it, and Moses took the blood and put* it with his finger on the altar's horns all around and purified the altar; then* he poured the blood out on the altar's base—thus* he consecrated it in order to make atonement for it.*

⁸ " 'And you* shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and they shall be for you _⌊time periods of_⌋* years: _⌊forty-nine_⌋* years.

³⁴ According to the number of the days* that you explored the land, forty days,* _⌊a day for each year_⌋,* you will bear your sins forty years,* and you will know my opposition.'

²⁴ And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

⁶ "But as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain."

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you from among your companions with festive oil.

⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like a garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But* my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.

⁸ For a moth will eat them like garments; a moth will devour* them like wool, but* my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation for _⌊generation after generation_⌋.*"

¹⁰ Yet* Yahweh was pleased to crush him; he _⌊made him sick_⌋.* If she* places* his life a guilt offering,* he will see offspring. He will prolong days, and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. ¹¹ From the trouble of his life* he will see;* he will be satisfied. In his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, shall declare many righteous,* and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Observe justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is close to coming, and my justice to being revealed.

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

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

²² The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion, your exile will not continue; but he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will reveal your sins.

⁶ When you have completed these, then you must lie a second time on your right side; and you must bear the guilt* of the house of Judah forty days, a day for each year, a day for each year I give it to you.

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.

²¹ And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins."

¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John,

²⁴ saying, "_⌊Leave us alone_⌋,* Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

³⁵ And the angel answered and* said to her,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."* ²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and* gave it* back to the attendant and* sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were looking intently at him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

²⁵ And he said to them, "O foolish and slow in heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ suffer these things and enter into his glory?" ²⁷ And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

⁴⁴ And he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I* was still with you, that everything that is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

⁴¹ This one first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated "Christ").

³⁴ For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure.

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that now at last everything was completed, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty." ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and* brought it* to his mouth. ³⁰ Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed,"* and bowing his* head, he gave up his* spirit.

¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and demanded that a man—a murderer—be granted to you.

²² Moses said, 'The Lord God* will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.*

²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified about by the law and the prophets— ²² that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ* to all who believe. For there is no distinction,

¹⁰ For if, while we* were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, by much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.

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

¹⁸ And all these things are from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as if* God were imploring you through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him.

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

²⁰ and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by* making peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

¹⁴ having destroyed the certificate of indebtedness in ordinances against us, which was hostile to us, and removed it out of the way by* nailing it to the cross.

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

¹⁷ Therefore he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all respects, in order that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

²⁶ For a high priest such as this indeed is fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and having become exalted above the heavens,

¹¹ But Christ has arrived as a high priest of the good things to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation, ¹² and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the most holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify them for the ritual purity of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

²⁶ since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.

¹ Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith equal in value to ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.

⁷ "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
"This is what the holy one, the true one, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says:

⁶ And I saw another angel flying _⌊directly overhead_⌋*, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who reside on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people,

²⁵ The king said to Zadok, "Let the ark of God return to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yawheh, he will let me return and let me see him in his dwelling place.

²⁴ Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

¹ Then King Darius issued forth a decree, and they searched the house of the treasury of scrolls being stored in Babylonia. ² But it was in Ecbatana in the province of Media, in the citadel, that a certain scroll had written on it, "A record. ³ In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued forth a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the house be built, the place where sacrifices are offered and let its foundations be raised. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ⁴ with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king. ⁵ Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God." ⁶ "Now then, Tattenai governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates, the envoys who are in the province Beyond the River—keep far away from there. ⁷ Leave this work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site. ⁸ And I issue forth a decree for what you should do for these elders of the Jews to build this house of God. The full expense will be paid to these men from the riches of the king from the taxes of the province Beyond the River, without delay. ⁹ Whatever may be needed—_⌊young bulls_⌋,* young rams, sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil for the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them day by day with no negligence, ¹⁰ that they may offer incense offerings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his children. ¹¹ Furthermore, I issue forth a decree that if any person violates this decree, let a beam be pulled out from his house and let him be impaled on it. And let his house be made a pile of rubble on account of this. ¹² May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence." ¹³ Then Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates consequently did with diligence what Darius the king ordered. ¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. ¹⁵ This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹ After these things during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

⁸ He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

¹¹ This is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the scroll of the words of the commands of Yahweh and his statutes for Israel: ¹² "Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens. Peace. And now ¹³ I issue forth a decree that any of the people of Israel, their priests, or their Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent from the king and his seven counselors to enquire about Judah and Jerusalem concerning the law of your God, which is in your hand. ¹⁵ Also, bring the silver and gold that the king and his advisors have freely offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ and all of the silver and gold that you will find in the whole province of Babylonia, with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests giving willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, with diligence you must buy young bulls, young rams, lambs, and their offerings and libations. You must offer them on the altar that is in the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers to do with the remainder of the silver and gold according to the desire of your God. ¹⁹ And the vessels that were given to you for the service of the house of your God you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And the remainder of the needs for the house of your God that falls to you to provide, you may provide from the house of the king's treasury." ²¹ "I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue forth a decree to all the treasurers who are in the province Beyond the River. Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may ask of you, let it be done with diligence, ²² up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred measures of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and _⌊unlimited salt_⌋.* ²³ All that is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with diligence for the house of the God of heaven, otherwise wrath will come on the kingdom of the king and his sons. ²⁴ You also should be aware that it is not permitted to place tax, tribute, or duty upon all of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, and other servants of the house of God. ²⁵ "You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who can judge all of the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. And you will teach those who do not know. ²⁶ All who do not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods and for imprisonment."

¹ It happened in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. And I had never been sad before the king. ² So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." And I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors'* burial site* is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?" ⁴ Then the king said to me, "What is your request?" So I prayed to the God of the heavens. ⁵ Then I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your presence, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors'* burial sites, so that I may rebuild it." ⁶ With the queen sitting beside him, the king said to me, "How long will your journey be and when will you return?" So it pleased the king and he sent me, and I set for him an appointed time. ⁷ Then I said to the king, "If it is good for the king, let letters be given to me for the governors in the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass until I come to Judah. ⁸ Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave permission to me, according to the good hand of God on me.

¹ Then Eliashib the high priest and his brothers the priests arose and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and erected its doors. They consecrated it up to the Tower of the Hundred and up to the Tower of Hananel.

⁸ So all of them plotted together to come fight against Jerusalem and to make trouble for it.

¹⁶ From that day, half of my servants were working on craftsmanship, half were holding spears, small shields, bows, and breastplates. The commanders were behind the whole house of Judah. ¹⁷ The ones who were building the wall and the ones _⌊who carried the materials_⌋* were carrying in one hand while doing the task, and with the other hand were grasping a weapon. ¹⁸ Each of the builders had his sword tied to his side while building. And the man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁰ For my enemies talk concerning me, and those who watch for my life conspire together,

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

⁴ Look! I made* him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples.

¹¹ Even against the prince of the hosts it acted arrogantly and took away from him the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.

²⁵ And by his planning* he will make a success of deceit by* his hand, and in his _⌊mind_⌋* he will _⌊boast_⌋,* and in their ease he will destroy many, and even against the prince of princes he will rise up, and he will be broken, but not by human hands.

²³ At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and now I have come to declare* it, for you are highly esteemed, and so consider the word and understand the vision.

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

²³ But what was sown on the good soil—this is the one who hears the word and understands it,* who indeed bears fruit and produces, this one a hundred times as much, and this one sixty, and this one thirty."

²⁵ The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (the one called Christ); "whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us."

¹⁵ And you killed the originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses!

³¹ This one God has exalted to his right hand as Leader and Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³⁰ So Philip ran up to it* and* heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, "So then, do you understand what you are reading?"

¹⁶ making the most of the time because the days are evil.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood

¹⁶ And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords."

¹⁵ My strength is dry like a potsherd, and my tongue is sticking to my jaws; and you have placed me in the dust of death.

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

⁸ He was taken by restraint of justice, and who concerned himself with his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he received a blow because of the transgression of my people.

⁷ Who is this that rises like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters surge?

²⁷ And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering _⌊and in its place_⌋* a desolating abomination comes even until _⌊the determined complete destruction_⌋* is poured out on the desolator."

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

¹⁷ And he will set his face to come with the authority of his whole kingdom and will form an agreement;* and he will _⌊act_⌋,* and the daughter of women he will give to him to destroy it,* but the ploy will not succeed _⌊and she will not support him_⌋.*

⁹ And he* said, "_⌊Name him_⌋* Lo-ammi,* for you are not my people and I am not your God.*

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

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

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

² "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son.

⁷ And the king was angry and sent his troops and* destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

³⁸ Behold, your house has been left to you desolate!

² But he answered and* said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone will be left here on another stone that will not be thrown down!"

⁶ And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.* ⁸ But all these things are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ "Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations* because of my name. ¹⁰ And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many, ¹² and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations,* and then the end will come.

¹² And he said to them, "Elijah indeed does come first and* restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

² And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here on another stone that will not be thrown down!"

⁷ And when you hear about wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁴³ For days will come upon you and your enemies will put up an embankment* against you, and will surround you and press you hard from all directions. ⁴⁴ And they will raze you to the ground, you and your children within you, and will not leave a stone upon a stone within you, _⌊because_⌋* you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

⁶ "As for these things that you see—days will come in which not one stone will be left on another stone that will not be thrown down!"

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

²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

⁴⁶ and said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day,

⁵¹ (Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest in that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also that the children of God who are scattered would be gathered into one.)

³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." ³³ (Now he said this to indicate by what sort of death he was going to die.) ³⁴ Then the crowd replied to him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains _⌊forever_⌋!* And how do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

³⁰ I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has _⌊no power_⌋* _⌊over_⌋* me.

¹³ And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place* and the law! ¹⁴ For we have heard him saying that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

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

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"*

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his footsteps,

²⁴ who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we may die to sins and live to righteousness, by whose wounds you were healed.

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he could bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

²⁶ I call* to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; _⌊you will not live long on it_⌋,* but you will be completely destroyed. 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_⌋.* ²⁸ And you will there serve gods _⌊made by human hands_⌋,* of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.

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

¹⁷ However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you _⌊today_⌋* that you will certainly perish; _⌊you will not extend your time_⌋* on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it.

²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak in their ears these words, and that I may call as witness against them heaven and earth. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil* in the eyes of Yahweh, _⌊provoking him with the work of your hands_⌋."*

¹⁹ Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. ²⁰ So he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what will be their end, for they are a generation of perversity, _⌊children in whom there is no faithfulness_⌋.* ²¹ They annoyed me with what is not a god; they provoked me with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those not a people, with a foolish nation I will provoke them. ²² For a fire was kindled* by my anger, and it burned _⌊up to the depths of Sheol_⌋,* and it devoured the earth and its produce, and it set afire the foundation of the mountains. ²³ I will heap disasters upon them; my arrows I will spend on them. ²⁴ They will become weakened by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter pestilence; and the teeth of wild animals I will send against them, with the poison of the creeping things in the dust; ²⁵ From outside her boundaries the sword will make her childless, and from inside, terror; both for the young man and also the young woman, the infant along with the gray-headed man. ²⁶ I thought, "I will wipe them out; _⌊I will make people forget they ever existed_⌋."* ²⁷ If I had not feared a provocation of the enemy, lest their foes might misunderstand, * lest they should say, * "Our hand is _⌊triumphant_⌋,* and Yahweh did not do all this." ' ²⁸ For _⌊they are a nation void of sense_⌋,* and there is not any understanding in them. ²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern _⌊for themselves their end_⌋.* ³⁰ How could one chase a thousand and two could cause a myriad to flee, if their Rock had not sold them, and Yahweh had not given them up? ³¹ For the fact of the matter is, their rock is not like our Rock, and our enemies recognize* this. ³² For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the terraces of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; _⌊their clusters are bitter_⌋.* ³³ Their wine is the poison of snakes, and the deadly poison of horned vipers. ³⁴ 'Is not this stored up with me, sealed in my treasuries?'* ³⁵ _⌊Vengeance belongs to me_⌋* and also recompense, _⌊for at the time their foot slips_⌋,* because the day of their disaster is near, _⌊and fate comes quickly for them_⌋.'* ³⁶ For Yahweh will judge on behalf of his people, and concerning his servants; he will change his mind when he sees that their power has disappeared, and there is no one left, confined* or free.* ³⁷ And he will say, 'Where are their gods, their rock in whom* they took refuge? ³⁸ Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up, and let them help you; _⌊Let them be to you a refuge_⌋.* ³⁹ See, now, that I, even I am he, and there is not a god besides me; I put to death and I give life; I wound and I heal; there is not one who delivers from my hand! ⁴⁰ For indeed I lift up my hand to heaven, And I promise _⌊as I live forever_⌋,* ⁴¹ When I sharpen* _⌊my flashing sword_⌋,* and my hand takes hold* of it in judgment, _⌊I will take reprisals against my foes_⌋,* and my haters I will repay. ⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain, and captives* from the heads* of the leaders of the enemy.' ⁴³ Call for songs of joy, O nations, concerning his people,* for the blood of his servants he will avenge, _⌊and he will take reprisals against his foes_⌋,* and he will make atonement for his land, his people." ⁴⁴ And Moses came, and he spoke* all the words of this song in the ears of the people; that is, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

²² Let their table before them be a trap, and their times of peace a snare. ²³ Let their eyes be dark so they cannot see, and make their loins continually tremble. ²⁴ Pour out your indignation on them, and let your burning anger overtake them. ²⁵ Let their camp be desolate. Let none dwell in their tents, ²⁶ because they persecute those whom you, yourself, have struck, and they tell of the pain of those you have wounded. ²⁷ _⌊Add guilt on top of their guilt_⌋,* and do not let them _⌊be acquitted_⌋.* ²⁸ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be recorded with the righteous.

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. ²³ For the Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to make a complete destruction and a determined end in the midst of all the earth.

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.

⁶ "I am Yahweh; I have called you in righteousness, and I have grasped your hand and watched over you; and I have given you as a covenant of the people, as a light of the nations,

¹¹ From the trouble of his life* he will see;* he will be satisfied. In his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, shall declare many righteous,* and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.

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.

³¹ Look, the days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will _⌊make_⌋* a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors* on the day of my grasping them* by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³³ "But this is the covenant that I will _⌊make_⌋* with the house of Israel after those days," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh: "I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts* I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. ³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Know Yahweh,' for all of them will know me, from their _⌊smallest_⌋* and up to their _⌊greatest_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember."

⁴⁰ And I will _⌊make_⌋* with them _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋* that I will not turn away from them, my doing good to them, and my reverence I will put in their hearts* so that they will not turn aside from me. ⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart, and with all my inner self."* ⁴² "For thus says Yahweh, 'Just as I have brought to this people all this great disaster, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise to them.

⁶⁰ And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋.* ⁶¹ And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, _⌊both the older and the younger_⌋,* and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. ⁶² And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, ⁶³ in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and _⌊you will not open your mouth again_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹³ And I heard a certain holy one speaking, and a certain other holy one said to the specific one _⌊who was speaking_⌋,* "_⌊For how long_⌋* is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, and the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to trampling?"

³⁶ "Then the king will do _⌊as he pleases_⌋,* and he will exalt himself and will consider himself above any god, and he will speak horrendous things _⌊against_⌋* the God of gods, yet he will succeed until the period of anger is finished, for what is determined will be done.

¹¹ And from the time the regular burnt offering is removed and the abomination that causes desolation _⌊is set up_⌋* there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.

²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split.

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

¹⁵ _⌊But the gift is not like the trespass_⌋*, for if by the trespass of the one, the many died, by much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, multiply to the many.

¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.

²⁶ and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,
"The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

⁸ For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers, ⁹ and that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, just as it is written,
"Because of this, I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name."*

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"* ¹⁴ in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. ¹⁵ Brothers, I am speaking according to a human perspective. Nevertheless, when* the covenant of a man has been ratified, no one declares it invalid or adds additional provisions to it. ¹⁶ Now to Abraham and to his descendant the promises were spoken. It does not say, "and to descendants," as concerning many, but as concerning one, "and to your descendant,"* who is Christ. ¹⁷ Now I am saying this: the law, that came after four hundred and thirty years, does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, in order to nullify the promise.

¹³ For when* God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying,
"Surely _⌊I will greatly bless_⌋* you, and _⌊I will greatly multiply_⌋* you." ¹⁵ And so, by* persevering, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. ¹⁷ In the same way God, because he* wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,

⁸ For in finding fault with them he says,
"Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ⁹ not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be _⌊their_⌋* God and they will be _⌊my_⌋* people. ¹¹ And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. ¹² For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer." ¹³ In calling it new, he has declared the former to be old. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing.

¹⁵ And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, because* a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions committed during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶ For where there is a will, it is a necessity for the death of the one who made the will to be established. ¹⁷ For a will is in force concerning those who are dead, since it is never in force when the one who made the will is alive. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was ratified without blood. ¹⁹ For when* every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves* with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying,
"This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you."*

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

⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when he* came into the world, he said,
"Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me; ⁶ you did not delight in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sins. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come— in the roll of the book it is written about me— to do your will, O God.' ⁸ When he says above,
"Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not want, nor did you delight in,"*
which are offered according to the law, ⁹ then he has said,
"Behold, I have come to do your will."*
He takes away the first in order to establish the second, ¹⁰ by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ And every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices many times, which are never able to take away sins. ¹² But this one, after he* had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from now on waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, ¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will decree for them after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."* ¹⁷ He also says,
"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will never remember again."* ¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. ¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we* have confidence for the entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, ²¹ and since we have* a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, ²¹ equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory _⌊forever_⌋*.* Amen.