Hosea 11 Cross References - LEB

¹ When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. ² When I called* them, they went from my face.* They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols. ³ And I myself taught Ephraim to walk; I took them* in my* arms, but they did not know that I healed them. ⁴ I drew them _⌊with human ties_⌋,* with the bands of love. I was to them like one who lifted up* a yoke on their jaws,* though I bent down to them* and let them* eat. ⁵ He will return* to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king,* because they refused to return. ⁶ The sword rages in his cities; it consumes his false prophets and devours because of their plans. ⁷ My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all. ⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is disturbed* within me; _⌊all_⌋* my compassions are aroused. ⁹ _⌊I will not execute_⌋* _⌊my fierce anger_⌋,* I will not again destroy Ephraim; because I am God and not a mortal,* the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come in wrath. ¹⁰ They will go after Yahweh; he roars like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the sea.* ¹¹ They will tremble like birds* from Egypt, and like doves* from the land of Assyria; and I will let them return* to their homes— a declaration of Yahweh. ¹² * Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,* and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is still wandering with God and is faithful to the Holy One.

²² And you must say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Israel is my son, my firstborn."

⁷ "Yahweh loved you and chose you not _⌊because of your great number_⌋* exceeding all other peoples, for you are fewer than all of the peoples,

² "Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Thus says Yahweh,
"I remember concerning you the loyal love of your childhood,* the love of your betrothal-time, your going* after me in the desert,* in the land not sown.

⁶ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live!

¹⁵ From there I will give her her vineyards, and the Valley of Achor as a doorway of hope. And there she will respond, as in the days of her youth, just as in the day of her coming out of the land of Egypt.

⁹ But I am Yahweh your God since* the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, like the days of the appointed festival.

¹³ And by a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he* was watched over.

⁴ I am Yahweh your God since* the land of Egypt; you know no god except me, and no one saves besides me.

² "I have loved you," says Yahweh, but you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is Esau not Jacob's brother?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "I have loved Jacob,

¹⁵ And he was there until the death of Herod, in order that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
"Out of Egypt I called my son."

² And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, "You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; ³ that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. 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 They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

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

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

⁷ Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ Like all the deeds they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and have served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹ And so then, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly warn them; you must explain to them the custom of the king who will rule over them."

³³ He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and he went up to the altar to offer incense.

³¹ _⌊If it wasn't enough that he went_⌋* after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him. ³² And he built an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria.

¹⁹ So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel."

¹³ Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, with every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors,* which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets." ¹⁴ But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors* who did not believe in Yahweh their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal.

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.

³⁰ You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

⁹ For it is a people of rebellion, deceitful children, children who are not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh, ¹⁰ who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions, ¹¹ turn aside from the way, turn aside from the path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face."

⁷ your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors* together, says Yahweh, because they made smoke offerings on the mountains and they taunted me on the hills, I will measure their punishment from the beginning into the fold of their garment."

¹⁵ But my people have forgotten me. They make smoke offerings to the idols,* and they caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient ways, to go into _⌊bypaths_⌋,* not one that is built up.

¹³ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were making smoke offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, _⌊saying_⌋,* ¹⁶ "Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ But certainly we will do _⌊everything_⌋* that went out from our mouths,* to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors,* our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then _⌊we had enough to eat_⌋,* and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster.

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

⁷ My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all.

¹ When Ephraim spoke,* there was terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. ² And now they sin again, and they make for themselves a molten idol, idols from their silver metal according to their understanding, all of them the work of skilled craftsmen. To these they say, "Sacrifice!" People are kissing bull calves.

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.

¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned* a stubborn shoulder and _⌊stopped their ears from listening_⌋.*

³⁴ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one 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 own brood under her* wings, and you were not willing!

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

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!

¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, ¹⁶ to those on the one hand an odor from death to death, and to those on the other hand a fragrance from life to life. And who is qualified for these things?

²⁶ And he said, "If you carefully listen to the voice of Yahweh your God and you do what is right in his eyes and give heed to his commands and you keep all his rules, then I will not bring about on you any of the diseases* that I brought about on Egypt, because I am Yahweh your healer.

⁴ 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles' wings and I brought you to me.

²⁵ And you will serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from among you.

¹¹ And Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you brought trouble to your servant? Why have I not found favor in your eyes, that the burdens of all these people have been placed on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? If I have fathered them,* that you could say to me, 'Carry them* in your lap, just as a foster-father carries the suckling on the land that you swore an oath to their ancestors?'*

³¹ and just as he did in the wilderness* when* you saw that* Yahweh your God carried you, just as someone* carries his son, all along the way that you traveled until _⌊you reached_⌋* this place.'

² And you shall remember all of the way that Yahweh your God led you during these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what is in your heart, whether you would diligently keep his commandments or not.

¹⁰ He found him in a desert land, and in a howling, desert wasteland; he _⌊encircled him_⌋,* he cared for him, he protected him like the _⌊apple_⌋* of his eye. ¹¹ As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, takes them,* carries them* on its pinions,* ¹² so Yahweh alone guided him,* and _⌊there was no foreign god accompanying him_⌋.*

² Hear, heavens, and listen, earth, for Yahweh has spoken: "I reared children and I brought them up, but they rebelled against me.

²⁶ And the light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when Yahweh binds up the breakage of his people, and he heals the wound of his blow.

³ "Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the belly, who have been carried from the womb:

⁹ In all their distress, _⌊there was no distress_⌋,* and the messenger of his _⌊presence_⌋* saved them, in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them, and he lifted them up, and he supported them all the days of old.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?

¹⁷ For I will present healing to you, and I will heal you of your wounds,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying, "It is Zion, there is no one who cares for her." '

⁸ But she did not know that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and who gave her silver in abundance, and gold which they made into a Baal.

¹ when I would heal Israel, and the corruption of Ephraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; because they deal in falsehood, the thief breaks in,* and the bandit raids the outside.

¹⁵ And I myself trained and strengthened their arms; but they plan evil against me.

⁴ I will heal their disloyalty;* I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them.*

¹⁸ And for a period of time of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness.

³² And Moses said, "This is the word that Yahweh has commanded. 'A full omer of it is for safekeeping for your generations so that they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you from the land of Egypt.'"

¹³ I am Yahweh, your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke, and I caused you to walk erectly.

¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of the _⌊human beings_⌋.*

²³ Nevertheless, he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, ²⁴ and rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. ²⁵ Humankind ate the bread of _⌊angels_⌋.* He sent them food enough to be satisfied.

⁴⁰ They* asked, and he brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴ Draw me after you, let us run! May the king bring me into his chambers!* Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you; let us extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you!

² Thus says Yahweh:
"The people of the survivors of the sword found grace in the desert;* Israel going to find their rest." ³ From afar Yahweh appeared to me, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. _⌊Therefore_⌋* I have drawn you with loyal love.

³² Then Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven! ³³ For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." ³⁴ So they said to him, "Sir, always give us this bread!" ³⁵ Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty again. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never throw out, ³⁸ because I have come down from heaven not that I should do my will, but the will of the one who sent me. ³⁹ Now this is the will of the one who sent me: that everyone whom he has given me, I would not lose any of them,* but raise them* up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." ⁴¹ Now the Jews began to grumble* about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," ⁴² and they were saying, "Is this one not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" ⁴³ Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble _⌊among yourselves_⌋!* ⁴⁴ No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 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. ⁴⁶ (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father.)* ⁴⁷ Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that someone may eat from it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live _⌊forever_⌋.* And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." ⁵² So the Jews began to quarrel* _⌊among themselves_⌋,* saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves! ⁵⁴ The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ The one who eats* my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so also the one who eats* me—that one will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. The one who eats* this bread will live _⌊forever_⌋."*

³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

¹⁴ For the love of Christ controls us, because we* have concluded this: that one died for all; as a result all died.

¹⁹ Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him _⌊to strengthen his hold on the kingdom_⌋.*

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

³ Shalmaneser the king of Assyria* came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as he had year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him in a house of imprisonment. ⁵ So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

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.

¹¹ Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen to nor did they obey.

⁶ "Because this people has refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore look! The Lord is bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory.
And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks. ⁸ And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to the neck. He will reach, and _⌊he will spread his wings out over your entire land_⌋,* God with us."

⁴ "And you shall say to them, 'Thus asks* Yahweh:
"Do men fall and not stand up? If one turns away does he not return? 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.

¹³ And when Ephraim saw his illness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, he sent to the great king.* But he was unable to cure you and heal your wound.

¹ Come, let us return to Yahweh; because it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck us down and will bind us up.

¹⁶ They turn, not to the Most High,* like a slack bow; their officials will fall by the sword because of the anger of their tongue. This is their scorn* in the land of Egypt.

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

³ They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.

⁶ For look! If they flee from the destruction, Egypt will gather them; Memphis* will bury them. Nettles will possess their precious things of silver; thorns will be in their tents.

⁶ It will also be brought to Assyria, as tribute to the great king.* Ephraim will obtain disgrace and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.*

⁶ "And I* in turn gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

⁸ So two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water and they were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh. ⁹ "I struck you with blight and with mildew. Frequently the cutting locust devoured your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh. ¹⁰ "I sent among you a plague in the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your horses. And I made the stench of your camps go up into your nostrils, yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

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

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.'" '"

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.

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.

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.

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.

¹¹ It spread its branches to the sea and its shoots to the river. ¹² Why have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass on the road pluck fruit from it? ¹³ Swine from the forests devour* it and creatures of the field feed on it. 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.

³⁹ And they became unclean by their works, and were unfaithful in their deeds.

⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low by their iniquity.

¹⁴ So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in one day.

⁵ For before the harvest, _⌊when the blossom is complete_⌋* and a blossom becomes ripening fruit, and one cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and one removes, tears away the tendrils.

¹⁰ For the fortified city is solitary, a settlement deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; the calf grazes there, lies down there and destroys its branches.

¹ "Oh rebellious children!" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh,
"to make a plan, but* not from me, and pour out a libation, but* not from my Spirit, _⌊so as to add_⌋* sin to sin.

¹⁷ And they will eat your harvest and your food, they will eat your sons and your daughters, they will eat your flock and your herd, they will eat your vine and your fig tree, they will smash with the sword _⌊your fortified cities_⌋,* in which you trust.

² "Son of man, how will the wood of the vine be _⌊better than_⌋* _⌊any of the wood of_⌋* the branch which is among the trees of the forest?* ³ Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can they take a tent peg from it to hang on it any object?* ⁴ Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything? ⁵ Look! _⌊When it is in perfect condition_⌋,* it will not be used for anything, _⌊how much less_⌋* _⌊when the fire has consumed it_⌋* and it is charred; and then can it be used again for anything? ⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: _⌊Just like_⌋* the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest* which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷ And I will set my face against them. From the fire they may_⌊escape_⌋,* but the fire will yet consume them, and they will know that I am Yahweh _⌊when I set my face against them_⌋.*

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

¹⁴ The tumult of war will rise up against your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel; on the day of war mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.*

¹⁶ * Samaria will be guilty, because she has rebelled against her God; they will fall by the sword, their children will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.

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

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

¹ Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ² Now the king and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to make the Passover feast in the second month— ³ but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves _⌊in sufficient numbers_⌋,* and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴ and the plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. ⁵ So they let the decree stand, _⌊to make a proclamation_⌋* throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ⁶ And the runners went with the letter from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah according to the command of the king, saying, "O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* so that he made them as a desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers,* but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before their captors and return to this land, for Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him." ¹⁰ And it happened that the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and up to Zebulun, but they were laughing at them and mocking them. ¹¹ Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

⁵⁷ And they turned and were treacherous like their ancestors.* They twisted like a crooked* bow. ⁵⁸ For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and made him jealous with their images.

¹¹ But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not yield to me.

¹⁴ From his ways, the perverse of heart will be satisfied, and _⌊from his own_⌋,* so shall a good man.

⁶ Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate* Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there. ⁷ And I thought, 'After her doing all these things to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.* ⁸ And I saw that _⌊for this very reason, that_⌋* on account of apostate* Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also.

¹¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate* Israel has proved herself more upright* than treacherous Judah.

⁵ Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy? They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.*

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.

¹⁶ Indeed, like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; Now Yahweh will feed them, like a lamb in broad pasture.*

² When I called* them, they went from my face.* They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.

⁴ For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, "Seek me so that you may live." ⁵ But do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile and Bethel will come to disaster." ⁶ Seek Yahweh so that you may live, so that he will not break out like a fire against the house of Joseph! And it will devour, _⌊with none to quench_⌋* it for Bethel.

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

⁸ Then* the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and _⌊they took up battle position_⌋* in the Valley of Siddim

²⁴ Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh. ²⁵ And he overthrew those cities and the whole plain, and the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.

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.'

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.*

¹⁶ So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and _⌊he could no longer bear_⌋* the misery of Israel.

¹⁶ When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

²³ But Yahweh had mercy on them and showed compassion to them and turned to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not willing to destroy them nor cast them from his presence up to now.

⁴⁵ And he remembered his covenant with them, and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love.

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

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.

¹² Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
'Return, apostate* Israel,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'I will not cause my _⌊anger_⌋* to fall on you. For I am loyal,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. 'I will not be angry _⌊forever_⌋.*

⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Look, I am about to refine them, and I will test them, for what else can I do, because of the _⌊presence_⌋* of the daughter of my people?

²⁰ Is Ephraim my dear son, or the child of my delight? For _⌊as often as_⌋* I have earnestly spoken against him, I still remember him. _⌊Therefore_⌋* my bowels are turbulent for him, surely I will have compassion on him," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

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.

³³ He does not _⌊afflict willingly_⌋,* or grieve _⌊anyone_⌋.*

⁴ What will I do with you, O Ephraim? What will I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

¹¹ "I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

³ Yahweh relented concerning this. "It will not be," said Yahweh.

⁶ Yahweh also relented concerning this. "This also will not be," said my Lord Yahweh.

⁹ "Therefore, as I live"—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel— "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* like Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them."

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!

⁴¹ And when he approached and* saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "If you had known on this day—even you—the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

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

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

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

¹⁸ and began to cry out when they* saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "Who is like the great city?"

¹⁰ And now leave me alone so that _⌊my anger may blaze_⌋* against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation." 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? ¹² Why should the Egyptians _⌊say_⌋*, 'With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth'?* Turn from _⌊your fierce anger_⌋* and relent concerning the disaster for your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, 'I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.'" ¹⁴ And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had _⌊threatened_⌋* to do to his people.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of humankind, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

¹⁷ And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back _⌊from his burning anger_⌋,* and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you _⌊just as he swore_⌋* to your ancestors,*

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." '

⁸ Then Abishai said to David, "God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, _⌊please let me pin him to the ground with the spear_⌋* _⌊one time_⌋,* and _⌊I will not strike him twice_⌋."*

¹⁰ Now Amasa was not on his guard against the sword that was in Joab's hand, and he struck him with it into the stomach, and his entrails poured out to the ground. He did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bicri.

³⁸ But he was compassionate; he pardoned* their guilt and did not destroy them. And many times he turned back his anger and did not stir up all his wrath,

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

⁴ _⌊I have no wrath_⌋.* Whatever gives me thorns and briers, I will step forth against in battle. I will set it on fire altogether. ⁵ Or let it grasp at my protection; let it make peace with me; peace let it make with me." ⁶ _⌊Days are coming_⌋,* let Jacob take root; Israel will blossom and send out shoots, and they will fill the face of the world with fruit. ⁷ Does he strike him _⌊as he struck down those who struck him_⌋?* Or is he killed _⌊as those who killed him were killed_⌋?* ⁸ By expelling* her, by her sending away, you argue with her. He removed them with his strong wind, in the day of the east wind.

⁹ For the sake of my name I _⌊refrain from_⌋* my anger, and for my praise I restrain it for you so as not to cut you off.

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁹ "For as the heavens are _⌊higher_⌋* than the earth, so my ways are _⌊higher_⌋* than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹¹ For I am with you,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'to save you. For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations to which I scattered you, but you I will not make a complete destruction. And I will chastise you to the measure, and I will not leave you entirely unpunished.'

¹ "At that time," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh,
"I will be the God of all the clans* of Israel, and they will be to me a people."

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, 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_⌋.*

²¹ But the children rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and _⌊they did not observe my regulations_⌋,* which if a person does them, then he will live by them. My Sabbaths they desecrated, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to finish my anger against them in the desert. 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. ²³ What is more, _⌊I swore_⌋* to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands,

²⁷ And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation. ²⁸ And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, am consecrating Israel when my sanctuary is in the midst of them _⌊forever_⌋." '"*

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.

¹⁵ Yahweh has annulled your judgments; he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst; you shall no longer fear misfortune. ¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, "Fear not, O Zion; your hands shall not hang limp. ¹⁷ Yahweh your God is in your midst; a mighty warrior who saves. He shall rejoice over you with joy; he renews* you in his love; he will exult over you with singing.

⁶ "For I, Yahweh, have not changed,* and you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.*

²⁸ With respect to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but with respect to election, they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

¹ "About this also my heart trembles, and it leaps from its place.

¹¹ Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹²⁰ My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

⁵ House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.

⁴ For Yahweh said this to me:
"As which a lion growls and a young lion over its prey
when _⌊a full group_⌋* of shepherds is called against him,
it is not terrified by their voice, and to their noise it does not respond, so Yahweh of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.

¹³ Yahweh goes forth like a mighty warrior; he stirs up zeal like a man of war. He raises the war cry, indeed he raises the battle shout; he prevails against his foes.

¹⁰ They shall not be hungry or thirsty, and heat and sun shall not strike them, for he who takes pity on them will lead them, and he will guide them to springs of water.

² * as fire kindles brushwood, the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations might tremble from your _⌊presence_⌋.*

²² Do you not revere me?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "Do you not tremble _⌊before me_⌋?* For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, _⌊as an everlasting limit_⌋,* and it cannot pass over it, and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail, and its waves roar, but they cannot pass over it.

⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,*

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

³⁰ And you yourself shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them:
'Yahweh will roar from on high, and from _⌊his holy dwelling place_⌋* he will give his voice. He will roar mightily against his settlement, a jubilant shout like those who tread grapes, he will answer against all the inhabitants of the earth.

⁹ With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will bring them; I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path. They will not stumble in it, for I have become to Israel a father, and Ephraim, he is my firstborn."

⁹ And it will be to me a name of jubilation, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear all the good that I will do for them, and they will fear,* and they will tremble because of all the good, and because of all the prosperity that I will provide for it.'

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

¹ Come, let us return to Yahweh; because it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck us down and will bind us up. ² He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.* ³ Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising is sure like the dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like the spring rain that waters the earth.

¹⁶ And Yahweh roars from Zion; from Jerusalem he utters his voice, and the heavens and the earth shake. But Yahweh is a refuge for his people, and a protection for the children of Israel.

² And he said, "Yahweh roars from Zion and he utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither and the top of Carmel dries up."

⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest _⌊when he has no prey_⌋?* Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught something?

⁸ A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy?

⁵ For all the nations walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God, forever and ever.

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

⁷ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Look! I am going to save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the west,

¹² I will make them strong in Yahweh, and in his name they will walk, _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

²⁵ And while* he was discussing about righteousness and self control and the judgment that is to come, Felix became afraid and* replied, "Go away for the present, and when I* have an opportunity, I will summon you."

¹ Consequently, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁰ and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust* and who despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, they do not tremble in awe as they* blaspheme majestic beings,

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,

⁸ Who are these? They fly like a cloud, and like doves to their coops.

¹² And they will come, and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh, over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil, and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle. And their life will become like a well-watered garden, and they will never languish again."

²⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples to which they were scattered about in them, and I show myself holy in* them before the eyes of the nations, then they will live on their soil, which I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶ And they will live on it in safety, and they will build houses, and they will plant vineyards, and they will live in safety when I execute my judgments on all _⌊those who despise them from all around them_⌋,* and then they will know that I am Yahweh their God."

³³ "Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'On the day when I cleanse you from all of your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴ And the land that was desolate will be cultivated in _⌊the very place that_⌋* it was desolate before the eyes of all of the persons crossing over.

²¹ And speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am taking the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from among _⌊the nations to which they went_⌋,* and I will gather them from _⌊everywhere_⌋,* and I will bring them to their own soil.

²⁵ And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, _⌊in which your ancestors dwelled_⌋,* and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children _⌊forever_⌋,* and my servant David will be a leader for them _⌊forever_⌋.*

¹¹ Ephraim was like a dove, silly, _⌊without sense_⌋;* they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

³ They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food. ⁴ They will not pour drink offerings of wine to Yahweh, and their sacrifices will not please him. They are like mourners' bread for them; all those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread will be _⌊for their hunger_⌋;* it will not come to the house of Yahweh. ⁵ What will you do on the day of the appointed time, and on the day of the festival of Yahweh? ⁶ For look! If they flee from the destruction, Egypt will gather them; Memphis* will bury them. Nettles will possess their precious things of silver; thorns will be in their tents.

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

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

¹⁰ And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and from Assyria I will gather them. To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them, until no room will be found for them there.

²⁸ And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,* for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

⁴ He removed the high places, and he smashed the stone pillars; he cut down the poles of Asherah worship and demolished the bronze serpent which Moses had made, for up to those days the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were offering incense to it and called it Nehushtan. ⁵ He trusted in Yahweh the God of Israel; there was no one like him, before or after, among all the kings of Judah. ⁶ He held on to Yahweh; he did not depart from following him, and he kept his commands that Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁷ Yahweh was with him; everywhere he went, he succeeded. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

¹ Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. ³ In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. ⁵ And he said to them, "Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶ For our ancestors* acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. _⌊They have turned their backs_⌋* on it. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸ And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this. ¹⁰ Now _⌊it is in my heart_⌋* to _⌊make_⌋* a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. ¹¹ Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners." ¹² Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. ¹³ And from the descendants* of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants* of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and from the descendants* of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants* of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— ¹⁵ and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi* Kidron. ¹⁷ And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸ And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects, ¹⁹ and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh." ²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants* of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. ²² And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. ²³ Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them. 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. ²⁵ And he stood the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command was by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets. ²⁶ When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets, ²⁷ Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all together until the end of the burnt offering. ²⁹ And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped. ³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now _⌊you have consecrated yourselves_⌋* to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs—all these were to offer to Yahweh.

³⁶ But they enticed him with their mouth and lied to him with their tongue.

¹³ And the Lord said,
"Because this people draw near with its mouth, and with its lips it honors me, and its heart is far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,

²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a _⌊deceived mind_⌋* misleads him. And he cannot save _⌊himself_⌋,* and he cannot say, "Is this not an illusion in my right hand?"

³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness. ⁴ There is nobody _⌊who pleads with_⌋* justice, and there is nobody who judges with honesty. They rely on nothing and speak vanity. They conceive trouble and beget iniquity;

² Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out,* and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

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

¹ Ephraim herds the wind* and is pursuing the east wind all day long; he multiplies deception and violence and he* _⌊makes a treaty with Assyria_⌋,* and oil is brought to Egypt.

⁷ The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;* he loves to oppress.

¹² Because her rich are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

² Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if by you the world is judged, are you unworthy of the most insignificant courts?

⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power _⌊forever and ever_⌋*. Amen.

²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

¹⁰ and made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth."