Hosea 12 Cross References - LEB

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. ² Yahweh has a quarrel* with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. ³ In the womb he deceived his brother, and in his manhood he struggled with God. ⁴ He struggled with the angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy. He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.* ⁵ Yahweh the God of hosts, Yahweh is his renowned name! ⁶ But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God. ⁷ The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;* he loves to oppress. ⁸ And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich, I gained* wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is sin. 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. ¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets; I myself multiplied revelations* and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy. ¹¹ If in Gilead there is evil, surely they will come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, also their altars will be like stone heaps on furrows of the field. ¹² Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,* and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he watched over sheep. ¹³ And by a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he* was watched over. ¹⁴ Ephraim has caused bitter provocation, and his Lord will _⌊hold him responsible for his crimes_⌋* and pay back to him his insults.

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_⌋.*

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.

² "Should the wise answer with windy knowledge, and should he fill his stomach with the east wind?

⁶ An oracle of the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of trouble and distress, of lioness and lion, _⌊among_⌋* them are snake and flying serpent; they carry their wealth on the _⌊backs_⌋* of male donkeys and their treasures on the humps* of camels, to a people that cannot profit them. ⁷ For* _⌊Egyptians_⌋* help with vanity and emptiness, therefore I have called this one "Rahab, they are sitting."

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

¹⁰ And look! Though it is planted, will it prosper? _⌊When the east wind strikes it_⌋,* will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!" '"

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.

⁷ Because they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. The standing grain does not have heads;* it will not yield flour. And if it would yield, strangers would devour it.

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.

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.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked!* It is bad! For what is done by his hands will be done to him.

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."

⁶ I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them* a trampling place, like the clay of the streets.

¹² And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* and Jerusalem, "I will punish the _⌊arrogance_⌋* of the king of Assyria and _⌊his haughtiness_⌋."*

²¹ And this shall happen on that day:
Yahweh will punish the host of heaven in heaven, and the kings of the earth on the earth.

¹⁸ According to deeds, so he will repay; wrath to his enemies, requital to those who are his _⌊enemies_⌋.* He will repay requital to the coastlands.

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. ⁹ And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. ¹⁰ Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, _⌊but only_⌋* in pretense,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate* Israel has proved herself more upright* than treacherous Judah.

³¹ The rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth, for there is a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations. He is entering into judgment with all wicked flesh, he will give them to the sword,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

¹¹ "And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust _⌊she behaved more corruptly than her_⌋,* and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* governors and prefects, warriors* clothed in* perfection,* _⌊expert horsemen_⌋,* all of them _⌊handsome young men_⌋.* ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; _⌊they had both taken the same path_⌋!* ¹⁴ And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved* on the wall, images of Chaldeans* carved in red, ¹⁵ belted with a belt at* their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,* the image* of the _⌊Babylonians_⌋;* Chaldea was the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And she lusted for them _⌊when her eyes saw them_⌋,* and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. ¹⁷ And so the _⌊Babylonians_⌋* came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. ¹⁸ And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her _⌊just as_⌋* I turned from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet* she increased her whorings, _⌊recalling_⌋* the days of her childhood when she was prostituted* in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. ²¹ And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.

³¹ You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand." ' ³² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You will drink the deep and wide* cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; _⌊the cup holds so much_⌋!*

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.

¹ Hear the word of Yahweh, O children of Israel, for Yahweh has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, there is no knowledge of God in the land.

⁹ And it will be like people, like priest; I will punish them* for their* ways, and I will requite them* for their* deeds.

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.

⁹ _⌊They deeply corrupted themselves_⌋* as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their sin, he will punish their sins.

² Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends.

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will reward each one according to _⌊what he has done_⌋.*

⁶ who will reward each one according to his works:

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap,

²⁶ And afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac _⌊was sixty years old_⌋* at their birth.

²⁴ And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn. ²⁵ And when he* saw that he could not prevail against him, he struck his hip socket, so that Jacob's hip socket was sprained as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he* said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking." But he answered, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." ²⁷ Then he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 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."

¹¹ for although they* had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain,

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.

¹¹ And he arrived at a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and slept at that place. ¹² And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it. ¹³ And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,* and he said, "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵ Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you." ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh _⌊is indeed_⌋* in this place and I did not know!" ¹⁷ Then he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! _⌊This is nothing else than the house of God_⌋,* and this is the gate of heaven!" ¹⁸ And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city was formerly Luz.

⁹ Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, 'Return to your land and to your family, and I will deal well with you.' ¹⁰ _⌊I am not worthy_⌋* of all the loyal love and all the faithfulness that you have shown* your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Please rescue me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and attack mother and children alike. ¹² Now you yourself said, 'I will surely deal well with you and make your offspring as the sand of the sea that cannot be counted for abundance.'"

²⁹ Then Jacob asked and said, "Please tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask this—for my name?" And he blessed him there.

⁹ And God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-Aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." Then his name was called Israel.

¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said,
"The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me _⌊all my life_⌋* unto this day,

² And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed. ³ And Moses said, "Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?" ⁴ And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here I am." ⁵ And he said, "You must not come near to here. Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground."

⁶ He turned the sea into dry ground; they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him.

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.

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts.

³⁰ "And when* forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ And when* Moses saw it,* he was astonished at the sight, and when* he approached to look at it,* the voice of the Lord came: ³² 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob!'* So Moses began trembling and* did not dare to look at it.* ³³ And the Lord said to him, 'Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ _⌊I have certainly seen_⌋* the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.'* ³⁵ This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?'*—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with _⌊the help_⌋* of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who remain, will be snatched away at the same time together with them in the clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air, and thus we will be together with the Lord always.

⁷ who in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard as a result of his reverence.

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,

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh _⌊is indeed_⌋* in this place and I did not know!"

³⁰ Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel which means "I have seen God face to face and my life was spared."

¹⁵ And God said again to Moses, "So you must say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.'

¹³ O Yahweh, your name endures forever, your _⌊renown_⌋* _⌊throughout all generations_⌋,*

⁸ I am Yahweh; that is my name,
and I do not give my glory to another, nor* my praise to the idols.

¹⁸ I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.

¹⁴ Wait for Yahweh. Be strong and let your heart show strength, and wait for Yahweh.

⁷ Be quiet before Yahweh and wait for him. Do not fret about one who succeeds in his way, about a man making plots.

² Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,* as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to Yahweh our God, until he is gracious to us.

⁵ I await Yahweh; my soul awaits, and I wait* for his word. ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. Yes, more than watchmen for the morning. ⁷ O Israel, wait* for Yahweh. For with Yahweh there is loyal love, and with him there is abundant redemption.

²³ May you turn to my argument!* Behold, I shall pour out my spirit upon you; I will make my words known to you.

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

¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!

¹⁷ And I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him.

¹⁸ Therefore Yahweh waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy, for Yahweh is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

⁶ Turn back to the one against whom the sons of Israel have made deep rebellion.

³¹ But* those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength. They shall go up with wings* like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.

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

⁶ Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice, to untie the ropes of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and _⌊tear_⌋* every yoke to pieces?

¹⁴ "Return, apostate* children," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "For _⌊I am your master_⌋,* and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,* and I will bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight. ¹⁶ And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.' And _⌊it will not come to mind_⌋,* nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it,* nor will it be made again. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of Yahweh,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the stubbornness of their evil heart. ¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave as an inheritance to your ancestors.* ¹⁹ Then I thought, 'How I would set you among the children, and I would give you a land of desire, an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.' And I thought, 'You would call me, "My father," and you would not turn back from _⌊behind_⌋* me.' ²⁰ However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²¹ "A voice is heard on the barren heights, the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God. ²² Return, O apostate* children, I will heal your backsliding. 'Look, we come to you, for you are Yahweh our God.

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

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

³⁹ Why should any living person complain about his sin? ⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways; let us return to Yahweh. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.

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.

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness; _⌊reap loyal love_⌋.* Break up for yourself fallow ground; it is time to seek Yahweh so he will come and rain righteousness upon you.

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

¹³ Rend your hearts* and not your garments, and return to Yahweh your God, because he is gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and great in loyal love, and relenting from harm.

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

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

⁷ But as for me, I will look to Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

³ For there is yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.

⁸ "Therefore, wait for me"—a declaration of Yahweh— "for the day of my rising as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble* kingdoms, to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger. For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.

³ You must say to them: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, "and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts.

⁹ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge with trustworthy justice, and show* steadfast love and compassion _⌊to one another_⌋.*

¹⁶ These are the things that you must do: speak truth, each of you, with his neighbor; practice trustworthy judgment and peace in your gates.

³⁸ And Peter said* to them, "Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ but to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed that they should repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our* God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

³⁵ " 'You* shall not commit injustice in regulation, in measurement, in weight, or* volume. ³⁶ You* must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am Yahweh your* God who brought you* out from the land of Egypt.

³ Here I am! Testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one! Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, that I may shut my eyes _⌊regarding_⌋* him?-then I will restore it to you."

¹ Balances of deceit are an abomination of Yahweh, but _⌊an accurate weight_⌋* delights him.

¹¹ A balance and scales of justice belong to Yahweh; all the weights of the bag are his work.

⁵ And the people will be oppressed _⌊by each other_⌋* and a man by his neighbor. The boy will act arrogantly toward the elder, and the dishonorable toward the honorable.

³ and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,* your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

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.

⁷ Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father _⌊have sexual relations with_⌋* the same girl, so that they profane my holy name.

⁹ Proclaim to the citadel fortresses in Ashdod and the citadel fortresses in the land of Egypt and say: "Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic in her midst and the oppression in her midst!"

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

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine.

⁵ saying, "When will the new moon be over, so that we can sell grain? And the Sabbath, so that we can open the grain bins, that we can make the ephah small and make the shekel large, and can practice deceit with a set of scales of deceit? ⁶ _⌊That we can_⌋* buy the powerless with silver and the poor for the sake of a pair of sandals, and we can sell the waste of the grain?"

¹ Woe to those who plan wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds! In the light of the morning they did it, because they have power in their hands.

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

¹⁰ Is there any longer a man in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, and the ephah of scarcity which is accursed?* ¹¹ Shall I regard as pure the one with scales of wickedness, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

² The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind. All of them lie in wait; each hunts his brother with a net.

²¹ And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a _⌊trader_⌋* in the house* of Yahweh of hosts on that day.

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

¹⁶ And to the ones selling the doves he said, "Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father's house _⌊a marketplace_⌋!"*

⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they* desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

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

¹⁷ And you may think* in your heart, 'My strength and the might of my hand _⌊acquired this wealth for_⌋* me.'

²⁴ "If I have made gold my trust, or* I have called fine gold my security, ²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great or* because my hand found a fortune,

⁶ those who trust their wealth and boast about the abundance of their riches?

⁷ "Look, the man who would not make God his refuge, but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth; he took refuge in his destructiveness."

¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion, and do not put vain confidence in robbery. If wealth increases, do not set your heart on it.

¹² There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.

²⁰ This is the way of a woman committing adultery: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says "I have not done wrong."

¹³ For he says,
"I have done it by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down _⌊the inhabitants_⌋.* ¹⁴ And my hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And there was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp."

²³ "How can you say, 'I have not defiled myself, I have not gone after the Baals?' Look at your way in the valley, know what you have done. You are a young she-camel, interweaving her ways.

³⁵ yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I am entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his fishnet and makes offerings to his dragnet, for by them _⌊he makes a good living_⌋* and his food is rich.

⁵ _⌊How much less_⌋* the defiant;* the arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed. ⁶ Shall not all of these take up a taunt against him, with ridicule and riddles against him, saying, 'Woe to him who heaps up what is not his'? For how long? And, 'Woe to him who makes himself heavy with pledges'?

⁵ The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

¹⁷ You have wearied Yahweh with your words, but you ask, "With what have we wearied him?" You have done so _⌊when you say_⌋,* "Everyone who does evil is good in the _⌊sight_⌋* of Yahweh, and in them he delights," or "Where is the God of justice?"

¹³ "Your words have been harsh* against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?'

²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many possessions stored up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, celebrate!" '

¹³ No domestic slave is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money."

¹⁵ And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For what is considered exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

⁵ constant wrangling by people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who consider godliness to be a means of gain.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment,

¹⁷ Because you are saying, "I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked,

²⁷ And the boys grew up. And Esau was a skilled* hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.

² "I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.

³⁶ You* must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am Yahweh your* God who brought you* out from the land of Egypt.

⁴⁰ And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees and branches* of a leafy tree and of a brook's poplar trees, and you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God for seven days. ⁴¹ And you must hold it as a festival for Yahweh for seven days in the year; it shall be a _⌊lasting statute_⌋* throughout your generations; in the seventh month you must hold it. ⁴² You must live in the booths for seven days; all the natives in Israel must live in the booths, ⁴³ so that your generations shall know that I made the _⌊Israelites_⌋* live in booths when I brought them from the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.'"

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.

⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am Yahweh your God."

² And the king said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, please, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is staying in the middle of the tent."

⁴ And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered burnt offerings day by day in number according to the ordinance _⌊as described for each day_⌋.*

¹⁵ and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written." ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ And all of the assembly of those who returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths because the _⌊Israelites_⌋* had not done it from the days of Jeshua son of Nun until that day. And there was very great joy.

¹⁰ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

⁷ And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.'

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

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.

¹⁶ _⌊And then_⌋* every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year* to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.* ¹⁷ _⌊And then_⌋* whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them. ¹⁸ And if the clan of Egypt will not go up and come in, on them will be that plague Yahweh inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

² Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near.

⁹ By faith he lived in the land of promise as a stranger, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith also, _⌊with Sarah_⌋*,* he received _⌊the ability to procreate_⌋* even _⌊past the normal age_⌋*, because he regarded the one who had promised to be faithful. ¹² And therefore these were fathered from one man, and he being as good as dead, as the stars of heaven in number and like the innumerable sand by the shore of the sea. ¹³ These all died in faith without receiving the promises, but seeing them from a distance and welcoming them, and admitting that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth.

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

¹ Suddenly a man of God from Judah came to Bethel, by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer incense.

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "Because I raised you from the midst of the people and I made you leader over my people Israel, ⁸ I tore the kingdom from the house of David and I gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David who kept my commandments, and who went after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes. ⁹ But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have _⌊completely disregarded_⌋.* ¹⁰ Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off _⌊males_⌋* from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished. ¹¹ He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it." ' ¹² As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. ¹³ All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel. ¹⁴ Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day. ¹⁵ Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors.* He will scatter them beyond the River* because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin."

¹ Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe of Gilead said to Ahab, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* the God of Israel before whom I stand, there shall surely not be dew nor rain these years _⌊except by my command_⌋."*

²¹ Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don't let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire on it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he is God."* Then all the people answered and said, "The word is good!" ²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don't set fire under it." ²⁶ So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped* about the altar which they had made. ²⁷ It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or _⌊is using the bathroom_⌋,* or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!" ²⁸ So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. ²⁹ It happened as noon passed, they raged until the time of the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no one paid attention. ³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that had been destroyed. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, "Israel shall be your name." ³² With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench _⌊which would have held_⌋* about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. ³³ And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed it on the wood.* Then he said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." ³⁴ He said, "Do it again!" They did it again. He said, "Do it a third time!" So they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled with water. 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. ³⁷ Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again." ³⁸ Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which was in the trench it licked up! ³⁹ When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, "Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!" ⁴⁰ Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any man of them escape!" So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi* of Kishon and killed them there.

¹⁰ Then he said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of hosts, for the _⌊Israelites_⌋* have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life.

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."

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.

¹ Let me sing for my beloved a song of my love concerning his vineyard: _⌊My beloved had a vineyard_⌋* on _⌊a fertile hill_⌋.* ² And he dug it and cleared it of stones, and he planted it with choice vines,* and he built a watchtower in the middle of it, and he even hewed out a wine vat in it, and he waited for it to yield grapes— but it yielded wild grapes. ³ And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men* of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I hope for it to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes? ⁵ And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation. I will break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling. ⁶ And I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned and hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers* and thornbushes.* And concerning the clouds, I will command _⌊them not to send_⌋* rain down upon it. ⁷ For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man* of Judah is the plantation of his delight. And he waited for justice,* but look! Bloodshed!* For righteousness,* but look! A cry of distress!*

² at that time, Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying,
"Go and loosen the sackcloth from your loins, and take off your sandals* from your feet,"
and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot. ³ Then* Yahweh said, "Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, ⁴ so shall the king of Assyria lead the captives* of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, _⌊with bared buttocks_⌋,* the shame of Egypt. ⁵ And they shall be dismayed, and they shall be ashamed because of Cush, their hope, and because of Egypt, their pride.

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_⌋.*

¹ Thus Yahweh said to me: "Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not _⌊place_⌋* it in water." ² So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh and I put it* on my loins. ³ Now the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, _⌊saying_⌋,* ⁴ "Take the loincloth that you bought, that is on your loins, and stand up, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock." ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates just as Yahweh had commanded me. ⁶ _⌊And then_⌋,* _⌊after a long time_⌋,* then Yahweh said to me, "Stand up, go to the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there." ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything. ⁸ _⌊And then_⌋* the word of Yahweh came to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ⁹ "Thus says Yahweh: 'So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go* in the stubbornness of their hearts,* and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, let them be like this loincloth which is not good for anything. ¹¹ For as the loincloth clings to the loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.' ¹² "Therefore, you shall say to them this word, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Every jar must be filled with wine." ' And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?' ¹³ Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. ¹⁴ And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them." '"

¹ Thus said Yahweh, "Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people, and some of the leaders of the priests,

¹⁰ "Then you shall break the jar before the eyes of the men who go with you.

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,

¹ "Now,* son of man,* take for yourself a brick, and you must put it _⌊before you_⌋,* and you must portray on it a city, Jerusalem. ² And you must build against it siege works, and you must build against it a bulwark, and you must heap against it a siege ramp, and you must set up against it camps and put against it a battering ram all around. ³ And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it as a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be _⌊under siege_⌋,* and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel. ⁴ And you, lie down on your left side, and you must put* the guilt of the house of Israel on it. You will carry their guilt the number of days that you will lie on it. ⁵ And I will give to you the years of their guilt according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, and you must bear the guilt* of the house of Israel.

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* 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_⌋.* ⁸ And I will make the land a desolation because _⌊they acted very unfaithfully_⌋!"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁴⁹ Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, they are saying about me, 'Is he not posing a parable?'"

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_⌋."* ³ So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. ⁴ And Yahweh said to him, "_⌊Name him_⌋* Jezreel;* because in a little while _⌊I will punish_⌋* the house of Jehu* for the blood* of Jezreel,* and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.* ⁵ _⌊On that day_⌋* I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."

¹ And Yahweh said to me again, "Go, love a woman _⌊who has a lover_⌋* and is committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh for the children of Israel, but they are turning to other gods and love raisin cakes."

²⁸ * And it will happen afterward thus: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams; your young men shall see visions.

¹⁴ And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees.

¹⁷ 'And it will be in the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

¹ It is necessary to boast; it is not profitable, but I will proceed to visions and revelations of the Lord.

⁷ even because of the extraordinary degree of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, in order that it would torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

⁹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* secretly did things which were not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh.

²⁰ "For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you were lying down as a prostitute.

²⁸ But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble. For according to the number of your towns are your gods, O Judah.

⁸ _⌊At the same time_⌋* they are stupid and foolish, in the instruction of idols, it is wood.

¹⁵ They are vanity, a work of mockery, at the time of their punishment, they will perish.

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_⌋!"*

⁸ Gilead is a city of evil, a cunning city because of blood.*

¹¹ When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sins, they became to him altars to sin on.

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

¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine;* he yields fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he made numerous altars. The more his land prospered, the more he* improved* his stone pillars.

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

⁵ 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."

⁸ Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love.*

⁴³ Now then, my son, listen to my voice; arise and flee to Haran to Laban my brother.

¹ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. ³ Now, may El-Shaddai* bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples. ⁴ And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham." ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. ⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and* he blessed him and instructed him, saying, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," ⁷ and that Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram. ⁸ Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, ⁹ then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had. ¹⁰ Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran. ¹¹ And he arrived at a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and slept at that place. ¹² And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it. ¹³ And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,* and he said, "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵ Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you." ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh _⌊is indeed_⌋* in this place and I did not know!" ¹⁷ Then he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! _⌊This is nothing else than the house of God_⌋,* and this is the gate of heaven!" ¹⁸ And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city was formerly Luz. ²⁰ And Jacob made a vow* saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ and if I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God. ²² And this stone that I have set up as a pillar shall be the house of God, and of all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you."

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel and said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." ¹⁹ Then Laban said, "Better that I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me." ²⁰ And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her. ²¹ And Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, that I may go in to her, for _⌊my time_⌋* is completed." ²² So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast. ²³ And it happened that in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter as a female servant. ²⁵ And it happened that in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?" ²⁶ Then Laban said, "_⌊It is not the custom_⌋* in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one,* then I will also give you the other, _⌊on the condition that you will work for me_⌋* another seven years." ²⁸ And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this one,* then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife.

⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

⁵ And _⌊you shall declare_⌋* and you shall say _⌊before_⌋* your God, 'My ancestor* was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien _⌊few in number_⌋,* and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

⁵⁰ And all the _⌊Israelites_⌋* did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. ⁵¹ And it was on exactly this day Yahweh brought the _⌊Israelites_⌋* out from the land of Egypt by their divisions.

³ And Moses said to the people, "Remember this day when you went out from Egypt, from a house of slaves, because with strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from here, and food with yeast will not be eaten.

⁸ "When Jacob came to Egypt, your ancestors* cried out to Yahweh, so he sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your ancestors* out from Egypt and settled them in this place.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

¹¹ Then* his people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is the one who led up them from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who puts _⌊his Holy Spirit_⌋* inside him, ¹² _⌊who made_⌋* his magnificent arm move _⌊at_⌋* the right hand of Moses, _⌊who divided_⌋* the waters _⌊before them_⌋,* to make an everlasting name for himself, ¹³ _⌊who led_⌋* them through the depths? They did not stumble like a horse in the desert; ¹⁴ like cattle in the valley that goes down, the Spirit of Yahweh _⌊gave him rest_⌋,* so you lead your people to make a magnificent name for yourself.

⁴ I am Yahweh your God since* the land of Egypt; you know no god except me, and no one saves besides me. ⁵ I fed you* in the desert, in the land of drought.

¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is it not so, O _⌊people_⌋* of Israel? This is the declaration of Yahweh! ¹² But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'

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.* ²³ And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.'*

³⁵ This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?'*—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with _⌊the help_⌋* of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷ "This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.'*

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

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

¹⁶ David said to him, "Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you by saying, 'I killed Yahweh's anointed one!'"

³³ And their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David and his descendants and for his house and his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh." ³⁴ So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, and he fell on him and killed him, and he was buried in his house in the wilderness.

⁷ Now this happened because the _⌊Israelites_⌋* had sinned against Yahweh their God when he brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt and they feared other gods. ⁸ They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* which the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* secretly did things which were not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. ¹² They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!" ¹³ Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, with every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors,* which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets." ¹⁴ But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors* who did not believe in Yahweh their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone.

¹³ _⌊He charges interest_⌋* and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.

² "Son of man,* there were two women, the daughters of one mother, ³ and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. ⁴ Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And _⌊they became mine_⌋,* and they bore sons and daughters, and their names* are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. ⁵ And Oholah prostituted herself _⌊while she was still mine_⌋,* and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, ⁶ clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, _⌊handsome young men_⌋* and all of them horsemen, _⌊experts on horseback_⌋.* ⁷ And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. ⁹ Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* _⌊after whom she lusted_⌋.* ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her.

⁷ For her blood was in the midst of her; _⌊she put it on a bare rock_⌋;* she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.* ⁸ To stir up rage, to avenge myself through vengeance, I placed its blood on the barrenness of a rock, _⌊so that it may not be covered_⌋."*

⁵ For he heard the sound of the horn and he did not take warning; his blood will be on him. But if he took warning, he saved his life.

¹⁸ And he will turn his face to the coastlands, and he will capture many, but* a commander will end his insults to him _⌊so that instead his insults will turn back upon him_⌋.*

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.