Micah 7 Cross References - LEB

¹ Woe is me! For I have become like the gatherings of summer, like the gleanings of the grape harvest, when there is no cluster of grapes to eat or early ripened fruit that my soul desires. 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. ³ Their hands are upon evil, to do it well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave it together. ⁴ The best of them is like a brier; the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come; now their confusion will come. ⁵ Do not put faith in a friend; put no trust in a close friend. Guard the doorways of your mouth from the one who lies in your lap. ⁶ For a son treats a father with contempt; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of a man are the men of his own house. ⁷ But as for me, I will look to Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. ⁸ You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy! When I fall I will stand up; when I sit in darkness Yahweh will be a light for me. ⁹ I will bear the rage of Yahweh, for I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes my justice. He will bring me out to the light; I will see his righteousness. ¹⁰ Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is Yahweh your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will become a trampling place, like mud in the streets. ¹¹ A day for building your walls; on that day he will extend your boundary. ¹² On that day he will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. ¹³ But the earth will be a desolation because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds. ¹⁴ Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. ¹⁵ As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt I will show him wondrous things. ¹⁶ The nations will see and be ashamed because of all their might. They will lay the hand on the mouth; their ears will be deaf. ¹⁷ They will lick the dust like the serpent, like the crawling things of the earth. They will come trembling from their strongholds to Yahweh our God. Let them fear and be afraid of you. 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.

⁵ Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar.

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

⁶ And gleanings will be left over in it, as _⌊when an olive tree is beaten_⌋,*
two or three ripe olive berries in the top of a branch, four or five on its fruitful branches,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, the God of Israel.

¹³ For it shall be like this in the midst of the earth, among the nations, like the beating of an olive tree, like gleanings when a grape harvest is at an end.

¹⁶ We hear songs from the _⌊edge_⌋* of the earth: "Glory to the righteous one!" But I say, "Ruin to me! Ruin to me! Woe to me! The treacherous ones deal treacherously, and the treacherous ones deal treacherously with treachery!"

⁴ and the withering flower of the glory of its beauty which is at the head of _⌊the rich valley_⌋* will be like its early fig before summer, _⌊which the one who sees it swallows_⌋* while it is still in his hand.

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

¹⁰ Woe to me, O my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of contention and quarreling _⌊to the whole land_⌋.* I have not lent out and _⌊I have not borrowed_⌋.* All of them are cursing me.

³ 'You said, "Woe please to me, for Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary in my groaning and I do not find rest." '

¹⁰ Like the grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,* I saw your ancestors.* They themselves came to Baal Peor, and they consecrated themselves to shame. And they became detestable things, like _⌊the thing they love_⌋.*

¹¹ Now, my father, see, yes, see, the hem of your robe in my hand! For _⌊when I cut_⌋* the hem of your robe I did not kill you. Know and _⌊realize_⌋* that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I did not sin against you, but you are hunting down my life to take it.

²⁰ And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground _⌊away from_⌋* the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains."

¹ For the music director; on the Sheminith.* A psalm of David.*
Save, O Yahweh, for the pious have ceased to be; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of humankind.

¹ For the music director. Of David.*
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. ² Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind to see whether there is one who has insight, one who cares about God. ³ All have gone astray; they are altogether corrupt. There is not one who does good; there is not even one.

⁶ They have set a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down. They have dug a pit before me; they have fallen into the midst of it. Selah

¹¹ If they say, "Come with us! We shall lie in wait for blood; we shall ambush the innocent without cause.*

⁶ The words of the wicked are an ambush of blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.

¹ The righteous one perishes, and there is no one who takes* it to heart. And men of faithfulness are gathered, while there is no one who understands, for the righteous is gathered from the presence of wickedness.

⁷ Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; devastation and destruction are in their highways.

¹⁶ Their quiver is like an open tomb, all of them are warriors.

²⁶ For wicked people are found among my people, they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers, they set up a trap, they catch humans.

¹⁶ Look, I am sending for many fishermen,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and they will fish them out, and _⌊afterward_⌋* I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.

¹⁸ They hunted our steps, from walking in our streets; our end has come near, _⌊our days are finished_⌋,* our end has come.

¹⁰ he who builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness.

¹⁵ He brings up all of them with a fishhook; he drags them up with a fishnet; he gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore, he rejoices and exults. 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. ¹⁷ Will he therefore empty his fishnet and continually kill nations without showing mercy?

¹⁰ just as it is written,
"There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned aside together; they have become worthless; There is no one who practices kindness; there is not even one.* ¹³ Their throat is an opened grave; they deceive with their tongues; the venom of asps is under their lips,* ¹⁴ whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.* ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ destruction and distress are in their paths, ¹⁷ and they have not known the way of peace.* ¹⁸ The fear of God is not before their eyes."*

⁹ She had written in the letters, saying, "Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰ Seat two men, _⌊scoundrels_⌋,* opposite him. Let them witness against him saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then you shall bring him out and stone him so that he dies." ¹¹ The men of his city and the elders and nobles who were living in his city did according to what Jezebel had sent to them, as was written in the letters which she had sent to them. ¹² They called a fast, and they seated Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ Then the two men, _⌊scoundrels_⌋,* came, sat opposite him, and the _⌊scoundrels_⌋* witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died. ¹⁴ They sent to Jezebel saying, "Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead."

¹⁶ For they will not sleep if they have not done wrong, and they are robbed of their sleep if they do not cause stumbling. ¹⁷ For they ate the bread of wickedness, and they drank the wine of violence.

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

²¹ For look! Yahweh is about to come out from his place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants* of the earth against him, and the earth will disclose her blood and will no longer cover her slain.

⁵ Will he be angry _⌊forever_⌋?* Will he maintain it _⌊always_⌋'?* Look, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could."*

¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.

⁶ Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,* they are in you _⌊for the shedding of blood_⌋.*

²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain.

¹⁸ When their drinking has ended, they surely indulge in sexual orgies. They love lewdness more than their* glory.

¹² For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous, you foes of the righteous, those who take a bribe, and _⌊those who_⌋* push aside the poor ones in the gate!

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

¹⁵ and* said, "What are you willing to give me if I in turn deliver him to you?" So they set out for him thirty silver coins.

¹ During _⌊this time_⌋* when* a crowd of many thousands had gathered together, so that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware for yourselves of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² But nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and secret that will not be made known.

⁵ Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord should come, who will both enlighten the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the counsels of hearts, and then praise will come to each one from God.

⁶ But evil persons are like thorns cast aside; all of them, because they cannot be picked up in the hand. ⁷ And if a man wants to touch them, he must use an iron instrument or the shaft of a spear; then they are consumed entirely with fire on the spot."

³ And what will you do at the day of punishment, and at calamity? It comes from afar! To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth,

⁵ For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion* in the valley of vision, a tearing down of walls* and a cry for help to the mountains.*

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

¹² Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse,* they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

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

⁶ And you, son of man,* you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because* briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their _⌊looks_⌋,* for they are a rebellious house.

²³ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel." ' But* say to them, 'The days are near, and also the word of every vision.' ²⁴ For there will not be any longer _⌊any false vision_⌋* or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

⁷ The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is acting like a madman. Because of the greatness of your sin, your hostility is great. ⁸ The prophet keeps watch over Ephraim for my God; the snare of a fowler is on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God.

² And he said, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." And Yahweh said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel. I will not pass by them again!"

¹⁰ For like entangled thorns, and like their drink which is drunk, they will be consumed like fully dry chaff.

²⁵ "And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity from the noise of the sea and its surging,

⁸ But if it* produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to a curse, whose end is for burning.

⁵ And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said, "Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?" ⁷ Samson said to her, "If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else." ⁸ So the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that were not dried up, and she tied him up with them. ⁹ The ambush was sitting in wait for her in an inner room. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you Samson!" And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And the secret of his strength remained unknown. ¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound." ¹¹ He said to her, "If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else." ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" (The ambush was sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread. ¹³ And Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads."* ¹⁴ She fastened it with the pin and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.* ¹⁵ And she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me how your strength is so great." ¹⁶ And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, _⌊his soul grew impatient to the point of death_⌋.* ¹⁷ So _⌊he confided everything to her_⌋,* and he said to her, "A razor _⌊has never touched_⌋* my head, for I am a _⌊Nazirite of God_⌋* _⌊from birth_⌋.* If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else. ¹⁸ Delilah realized that _⌊he had confided in her_⌋,* so she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, "Come up one more time, for _⌊he has confided in me_⌋."* And the rulers of the Philistines came up, and they brought the money _⌊with them_⌋.* ¹⁹ And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men* and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him,* and his strength went away from him. ²⁰ And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free," but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.

¹⁴ "Loyal love* should come for the afflicted from his friend, even if* he forsakes the fear of Shaddai. ¹⁵ My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed; like a streambed of wadis* they flow away,

⁸ It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to trust in humans.* ⁹ It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to trust princes.

⁴ "Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor, and you must not trust in any brother, for everyone surely betrays, and every neighbor goes about with slander.

¹⁶ "Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then* Shem and Japheth took a garment, and the two of them put it on their shoulders and, walking backward, they covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned backward, so that* they did not see the nakedness of their father. ²⁴ Then* Noah awoke from his drunkenness,* and he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

⁴ Unstable* as water, you shall not excel any longer, for you went up upon the bed of your father, then defiled it. You went up upon my couch!

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'" ¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything. ¹² Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. The conspiracy _⌊grew in strength_⌋,* and the people were going and _⌊increasing_⌋* with Absalom.

¹¹ David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Look, my son who came out of my loins* is seeking my life. Now _⌊as far as_⌋* this Benjaminite, leave him alone and let him curse, for Yahweh has spoken to him.

²¹ And Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go to the concubines of your father whom he left behind to watch over the house, then all of Israel will hear that you made yourself odious to your father, and _⌊all of your followers will be motivated_⌋!"* ²² Then they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he went in to the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel. ²³ The counsel that Ahithophel gave in those days was regarded as when a man* inquired of the word of God, so all the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed both by David and by Absalom.

⁹ Even _⌊my close friend_⌋,* whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

¹² For it is not an enemy that taunts me, or I could bear it. It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me, or I could hide myself from him. ¹³ But it is you, a man my equal, my friend and confidant. ¹⁴ We who would take sweet counsel together; in the house* of God we would walk with the throng.

¹¹ There is a generation that will curse its father, and its mother it will not bless.

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father and scorns the obedience of a mother— the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the offspring of vultures will eat it.

⁶ For even your relatives, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you, even they call _⌊loudly_⌋* after you. You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.

¹⁰ For I hear the rumor of many, "Terror is from all around, denounce him,* yes, let us denounce him!" _⌊All my close friends_⌋* are watchers of my stumbling, saying, "perhaps he can be persuaded, and we can prevail over him, and we can take our revenge on him."

⁷ They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; _⌊they violated_⌋* the alien with* extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow.

⁷ All of your _⌊allies_⌋* have driven you up to the boundary; your _⌊confederates_⌋* have deceived you and have prevailed against you. Those who eat your bread have set an ambush for you, there is no* understanding of it.*

²¹ "And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his children, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death,

³⁵ For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.*

²³ And he answered and* said, "The one who dips his* hand in the bowl with me—this one will betray me.

⁴⁹ And he came up to Jesus immediately and* said, "Greetings, Rabbi," and kissed him. ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do that* for which you have come."* Then they came up and* laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

¹⁶ And you will be handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put to death some of you.

¹⁸ "I am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, 'The one who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'*

² for people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ hardhearted, irreconcilable, slanderous, without self-control, savage, with no interest for what is good,

¹⁸ I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.

² O sons of man, how long will my honor* be a disgrace? How long will you love vanity? How long will you seek lies?* Selah ³ But know that Yahweh has set apart* for himself the faithful one.* Yahweh hears when I call to him.

⁵ Cause me to walk in your truth and teach me, because you are the God of my salvation. I await you _⌊all day long_⌋.*

¹² Do not give me over to the desire of my enemies, because false witnesses have arisen against me, and each breathing out violence.* ¹³ Surely* I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for Yahweh. Be strong and let your heart show strength, and wait for Yahweh.

⁵ They looked to him and were radiant, and their faces shall not be ashamed.* ⁶ This poor man called and Yahweh heard, and saved him from all his troubles.

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

¹⁵ Rather for you I wait, O Yahweh. You will answer, O Lord my God.

¹ For the music director. Of David. A psalm.*
I waited patiently for Yahweh, And he inclined to me and heard my cry for help. ² And so he brought me up from the roaring pit,* from the miry clay. And he put my feet upon a rock; he made my steps steady. ³ Then he put a new song in my mouth, a praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and will trust Yahweh.

¹⁵ And call me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me."

¹⁶ As for me, I will call to God, and Yahweh will save me. ¹⁷ _⌊Morning, noon and night_⌋* I will lament and groan loudly, and he will hear my voice.

¹ For the music director, on Jeduthun.* A psalm of David.*
Only for God my soul waits in silence. From him is my salvation. ² Only he is my rock and my salvation, my high stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. ³ How long will you attack a man? All of you will be shattered* like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. ⁴ They only* plan to thrust him down from his high position; they are pleased with deception. With their mouths* they bless, but _⌊inwardly_⌋* they curse. Selah ⁵ Only for God wait in silence, O my soul, because my hope is from him. ⁶ Only he is my rock and my salvation, my high stronghold; I shall not be shaken. ⁷ On God rests my salvation and my glory; God* is my strong rock, my refuge. ⁸ Trust him at all times, O people; pour out before him your heart. God is a refuge for us. Selah

² O you who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come.

⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, though I am in prayer.*

⁵ I await Yahweh; my soul awaits, and I wait* for his word.

⁴ look to my right and see. There is no one looking out for me; there is no escape for me;* no one cares for my soul.* ⁵ I cry out to you, O Yahweh. I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

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

² Look! God is my salvation; I will trust, and I will not be afraid, for my strength and might is Yah, Yahweh; and he has become salvation for me."

⁹ And one will say, on that day,
"Look! This is our God! We have waited for him and he saved us! This is Yahweh; we waited for him! Let us be glad, and let us rejoice in his salvation."

²² Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none besides me.

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.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor there be fruit on the vines; the yield of the olive tree fails, and the cultivated fields do not yield food; the flock is cut off from the animal pen, and there is no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh; I will exult in the God of my salvation. ¹⁹ Yahweh, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer; he causes me to walk on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments.

²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem _⌊whose name was_⌋* Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he would see the Lord's Christ.* ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus so that they could do for him according to what was customary under the law, ²⁸ he took him in his* arms and praised God and said, ²⁹ "Now dismiss your slave in peace, Lord, according to your word. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation ³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all the peoples, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people Israel."

¹¹ But they were filled with fury, and began discussing* with one another what they might do to Jesus. ¹² Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God.

¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.

²⁹ "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me or* have exulted when evil overtook him—

⁴ and lest my enemy should say, "I have overcome him," lest my enemies rejoice because I am shaken. ⁵ But as for me, I have trusted in your steadfast love.* My heart will rejoice in your deliverance. ⁶ * I will sing to Yahweh because he has dealt bountifully with me.

¹ Of David.*
Yahweh is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the refuge of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

¹⁵ But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together; smiters whom I did not know gathered against me. They tore and did not cease. ¹⁶ Among the ungodly of the mockers at feasts,* they gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁹ Let not those who are wrongfully my enemies* rejoice over me. Nor let those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

²⁴ Vindicate me according to your righteousness, O Yahweh my God, and do not let them rejoice over me. ²⁵ Do not let them say in their hearts,* "Aha, our desire." Let them not say, "We have swallowed him up." ²⁶ Let them be shamed and abashed altogether, who rejoice at my misfortune. Let them put on shame and insult, who magnify themselves against me.

²¹ The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous is gracious and gives.

²⁴ Though he fall, he will not be cast headlong, for Yahweh supports him with his hand.

¹⁶ For I said, "Help, lest they rejoice over me, lest they boast against me when my foot slips."

¹⁰ But you, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and raise me up that I may repay them. ¹¹ By this I know that you delight in me: because my enemy has not shouted in triumph over me. ¹² As for me, you have upheld me in my integrity, and you have set me in your presence forever.

¹¹ Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.

¹¹ Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

¹⁰ Those who sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron— ¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High, ¹² he therefore humbled their heart with trouble. They stumbled and there was no helper. ¹³ Then they called to Yahweh for help in their trouble; he saved them from their distresses. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and gloom, and tore off their bonds. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his loyal love and his wonderful deeds for the children of humankind,

⁴ His light rises in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and compassionate and righteous.

¹⁶ For seven times the righteous will fall, but he will rise, but the wicked will be overthrown by calamity. ¹⁷ While your enemies are falling, do not rejoice; when he trips himself, may your heart* not be glad ¹⁸ lest Yahweh see and it be evil in his eyes, and turn his anger away from him.

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

² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness.

⁹ saying to the _⌊prisoners_⌋,* "Come out!" to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves!" they shall feed _⌊along_⌋* the ways, and their pasturage shall be on all the barren heights.

¹⁰ Who among you is in fear of Yahweh, obeys* the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light, trusts in the name of Yahweh and depends on his God?

¹ "Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you. ² For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but* Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you. ³ And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.

¹⁹ The sun shall no longer be your light by day, and for bright light the moon shall not give you light, but* Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. ²⁰ Your sun shall no longer go down, and your moon shall not _⌊wane_⌋,* for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall come to an end.

¹¹ "Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my inheritance, though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass, and you neigh like the powerful stallions,

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup will pass, you will become drunk and strip yourself bare. ²² The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion, your exile will not continue; but he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will reveal your sins.

⁶ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because of clapping your hand and stamping with your foot, and because you rejoiced in* yourself with all of your malice over the land of Israel,

¹⁵ _⌊Like your rejoicing over the inheritance of the house of Israel_⌋* _⌊because_⌋* it was desolate, I will do to you; you will be a desolation, mountain of Seir and all of Edom, indeed all of it; and they will know that I am Yahweh.'" '

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

¹² But you should not have gloated* over your brother's day, on the day of his misfortune, and you should not have rejoiced over the _⌊people_⌋* of Judah on the day of their perishing, and you should not have opened your mouth wide on the day of distress.

¹⁰ Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is Yahweh your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will become a trampling place, like mud in the streets.

² But for you who revere* my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like _⌊fattened calves_⌋.*

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

⁷⁸ because of the merciful compassion* of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high, ⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

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."

²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy.

¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

⁶ For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness,"* is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.*

¹⁰ And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth. ¹¹ And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here," and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

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

⁵ And night will not exist any longer, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp and the light* of the sun, because the Lord God will give light to them, and they will reign _⌊forever and ever_⌋*.

⁴¹ I myself* also* went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt,

¹⁸ So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And he* said, "He is Yahweh, he will do _⌊what is_⌋* good in his _⌊sight_⌋."*

¹⁵ May Yahweh be the judge, and let him judge between me and you, and may he see and plead my case. _⌊May he vindicate me against you_⌋!"*

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head." Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife.

¹⁰ And David said, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* _⌊certainly_⌋* Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down in the battle and _⌊perish_⌋.*

¹¹ David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Look, my son who came out of my loins* is seeking my life. Now _⌊as far as_⌋* this Benjaminite, leave him alone and let him curse, for Yahweh has spoken to him. ¹² Perhaps Yahweh will look _⌊in my eye_⌋* and repay good for me in place of his curse this day.

¹⁷ David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, "Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father."

¹⁰ But he knows _⌊the way that I take_⌋;* he tests me—I shall come out like gold.

³¹ "Indeed, does anyone say to God, 'I have endured chastisement; I will not act corruptly again; ³² teach me yourself _⌊what I cannot see_⌋;* if I have done wrong, I will not repeat it'?

⁶ Rise up, O Yahweh, in your anger, and lift yourself up against the wrath* of my oppressors, and awake for me, since you have commanded judgment.

⁶ Then he will bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your justice like the noonday.

¹ Judge me, O God, and plead my case against* an unfaithful* nation. From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,

¹³ I bring my righteousness near; it is not far. And my salvation will not delay; and I will put* salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory."

¹⁷ Israel is a sheep scattered, lions drove them away. The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria, and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones." ¹⁸ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ And I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan, and on the hills* of Ephraim, and in Gilead its hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind.

³³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The people* of Israel are oppressed, and the people* of Judah likewise, _⌊for_⌋* all their captors have seized them, they refuse to let them go free. ³⁴ Their redeemer is strong, his name is Yahweh of hosts. Surely he will plead their case, in order to make peace for the earth, but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," the inhabitants* of Zion will say; and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. ³⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh,
"Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up.

¹⁸ Yahweh is righteous; I have rebelled against _⌊his word_⌋.* Please hear, all the nations, And see my pain; My young women* and young men went into captivity.

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

¹⁸ You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.

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

⁵ a proof of the righteous judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which also you are suffering, ⁶ since it is righteous in the sight of God to pay back those who are afflicting you with affliction, ⁷ and to you who are being afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, ⁸ with burning flame* giving punishment to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, ⁹ who will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, ¹⁰ whenever he should come to be glorified on that day by his saints and to be marveled at by all who believe, because our testimony was believed among you,

⁸ Finally, the crown of righteousness is reserved for me, that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, and punishes every son whom he accepts."* ⁷ Endure it for discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?

¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "_⌊How long_⌋*, holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?" ¹¹ And to each one of them a white robe was given, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been were completed also.

²⁰ Rejoice over her, heaven and the saints and the apostles and the prophets, because God has pronounced your judgment on her!"

⁴³ I beat them fine, like the dust of the earth; like the mire of the streets, I crushed them, I stamped them down.

³³ So he said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down, and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her. ³⁴ Then he came and ate and drank, and said, "Please take care of this cursed one and bury her, for she is the daughter of a king." ³⁵ When they went to bury her, they could not find her, except the skull, the feet, and the palms of the hands. ³⁶ They returned and told him, and he said, "This is the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'On the plot of ground of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.'" ³⁷ So the dead body of Jezebel became dung on the surface spread on the field in the plot of ground of Jezreel, so one cannot say, "This is Jezebel."

⁴² And I ground them like dust _⌊in the wind_⌋,* I emptied them* out like mud of the streets.

²⁶ Let them be shamed and abashed altogether, who rejoice at my misfortune. Let them put on shame and insult, who magnify themselves against me.

³ My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

¹⁰ As with a shattering in my bones my oppressors taunt me, while they say to me _⌊all day_⌋,* "Where is your God?"

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹⁰ Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it* be known among the nations before our eyes, by the avenging of the blood of your servants that was poured out.

²⁹ Let my accusers put on disgrace, and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a robe.

² Why should the nations say, "Where, _⌊pray tell_⌋,* is their God?"

⁸ O daughter of Babylon, about to be devastated, happy shall be he who pays back to you _⌊what you paid out to us_⌋.* ⁹ Happy shall be he who seizes and smashes your children against the rock.

¹⁰ For the hand of Yahweh will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down under him as _⌊a heap of straw is trampled down_⌋* in _⌊waters of_⌋* a dung heap. ¹¹ And it* will spread out its hands in the midst of it, just as the swimmer spreads out to swim, and its pride will be brought low with the movement* of its hands. ¹² And he will throw down the fortification of the high point of your walls; he will bring it low; he will _⌊send it_⌋* to the ground, to the dust.

⁵ For he has thrown down the inhabitants of the height, he lays low the lofty city. He lays it low to the ground; he throws her to the dust. ⁶ The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy."

¹⁰ "You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." ¹¹ Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you—shall you be delivered?

¹⁵ Look! I will make you into a new sharp threshing sledge, _⌊with_⌋* sharp edges. You shall thresh and crush the mountains, and you shall make the hills like chaff. ¹⁶ You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you yourself shall rejoice in Yahweh; you shall boast in the holy one of Israel.

⁵ Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of Chaldea, for _⌊they shall no longer call_⌋* you mistress of kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance, and I gave them into your hand. You did not _⌊give_⌋* them mercy; on the aged you made your yoke very heavy. ⁷ And you said, "I shall be an eternal mistress forever!" You did not set these things upon your heart; you did not remember its end. ⁸ Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits* in security, who says* in her heart, "I am, and besides me there is no one. I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children." ⁹ And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you _⌊completely_⌋,* in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

²² Thus says your Lord, Yahweh, and your God pleads the cause of his people: "Look! I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering. You shall not _⌊continue_⌋* to drink the goblet, the cup of my wrath, any longer. ²³ And I will put it in the hand of your tormenters, who have said to _⌊you_⌋,* 'Bow down that* we may _⌊pass_⌋* over you!' And you have _⌊made_⌋* your back like the ground, and like the street for those who _⌊pass_⌋* over you."

² Why are your garments* red, and your garments like he who treads in the winepress? ³ "I have trodden the winepress alone, and there was no man from the peoples with me. And I trod them in my anger, and I trampled them in my wrath, and spattered their juice on my garments, and stained all my clothing,

⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed. ⁹ We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to the skies. ¹⁰ Yahweh has brought forth our vindication. Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.

²⁴ And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁵¹ We are ashamed, for we have heard taunts,* disgrace covers our faces, for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.

¹⁸ And they will wear sackcloth, and horror will cover them, and on all of the faces will be shame, and baldness on all of their heads.

¹⁵ Now if you are ready so that _⌊when_⌋* you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and the drum and all kinds of music, you fall down and you worship the statue that I have made, that will be good. But if you do not worship it, _⌊immediately_⌋* you will be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and _⌊who is the god_⌋* who* will rescue you from my hands?"

¹⁷ Between the colonnade and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep. And let them say, "Take pity, Yahweh, on your people. Do not make your inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the nations, 'Where is their God?'"

¹⁰ "Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you and you will be cut off forever.

¹¹ And now, many nations are gathered against you who are saying, 'Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.'

¹ _⌊One who shatters_⌋* has come up against you! Guard the fortification! Watch the road!* Gird your loins! _⌊Muster_⌋* all your strength! ² For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob like the majesty of Israel; for ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches. ³ The shields of his warriors are dyed red; The powerful men are dressed in scarlet. The metal of the chariots* shines like fire _⌊on the day of battle_⌋,* and their spears quiver.

⁵ And they will be like warriors, trampling in the mud of the streets in the battle. They will fight, because Yahweh is with them, and they will put to shame the riders on horses.

⁵ Your eyes will see this, and you will say, "Yahweh is great beyond the borders* of Israel."

³ You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am going to act," says Yahweh of hosts.

⁴³ He trusts in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to,* because he said, 'I am the Son of God'!"

¹ And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality." ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,* and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth." ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
And _⌊I was greatly astonished when I saw her_⌋*. ⁷ And the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.

¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who have come up from near you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the wall and repairing the foundation. ¹³ Now be it known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute and toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced. ¹⁴ Now since we eat the salt of the palace and the dishonor of the king is not proper for us to see, we send and make this known to the king, ¹⁵ so that it may be investigated in the book of records of your ancestors.* You will find in the book of records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and they have rebelled in its midst from ancient times. Because of that this city was destroyed. ¹⁶ We make known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are finished, you will have nothing in the province Beyond the River." ¹⁷ The king sent a reply: "To Rehum the royal officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and the rest of the province Beyond the River, greetings. And now ¹⁸ the letter that you sent to us has been translated and read before me. ¹⁹ And _⌊I issued_⌋* a decree, and they searched and found that this city from ancient days revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition has been made in it. ²⁰ Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, duty, and tax has been given. ²¹ So now, issue forth a decree that these men stop and this city not be built, until a decree is issued from me. ²² And be careful not to be negligent on this matter. Why should damage grow to hurt kings?" ²³ Then when a copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates they returned in a hurry to Jerusalem against the Jews and they stopped them by force and power. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁸ Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave permission to me, according to the good hand of God on me.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, "You see the misery that we are in, that Jerusalem is ruined and its gates burned by the fire. Come, build the walls of Jerusalem and we shall no longer be a disgrace."

¹ Then Eliashib the high priest and his brothers the priests arose and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and erected its doors. They consecrated it up to the Tower of the Hundred and up to the Tower of Hananel. ² And _⌊next to him_⌋* the men of Jericho built, and _⌊next to him_⌋* Zaccur son of Imri built. ³ The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ⁴ _⌊Next to them_⌋* Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired. _⌊Next to them_⌋* Meshullam son of Berekiah, son of Meshezabel, repaired. _⌊Next to them_⌋* Zadok son of Baana repaired. ⁵ _⌊Next to them_⌋* the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles did not put their neck to the work of their lord. ⁶ Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam repaired the old Yeshanah Gate. They laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ⁷ _⌊Next to them_⌋* Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah who were under the rule of the governor of the province Beyond the River, repaired. ⁸ _⌊Next to him_⌋* Uzziel son of Harhaiah (goldsmiths) repaired. _⌊Next to him_⌋* Hananiah son of the perfume-makers repaired. They restored Jerusalem up to the Broad Wall. ⁹ _⌊Next to them_⌋* Rephaiah son of Hur, commander of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. ¹⁰ _⌊Next to them_⌋* Jedaiah son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. _⌊Next to him_⌋* Hattush son of Hashabneiah repaired. ¹¹ Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² _⌊Next to him_⌋* Shallum son of Hallohesh, commander of half of the district of Jerusalem, repaired with his daughters. ¹³ Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate. ¹⁴ Malkijah son of Recab, commander of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ¹⁵ Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David. ¹⁶ After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, commander of half of the district of Beth Zur, repaired up to a point opposite the burial sites of David, and up to the artificial pool and to the house of the mighty warriors.

³ Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, "Their wall of stone that they are building would break down if a fox went on it!"

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, and all of the wall was joined up to half its height. For the people had a heart to do it.

¹¹ "O afflicted one, driven away, who is not consoled. Look! I am about to set your stones in hard mortar, and I will lay your foundation with sapphires.

²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.*

¹¹ On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old. ¹² Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations _⌊who are called by my name_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, who does this. ¹³ "Look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "when the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps, the one who treads grapes will catch up with the one who sows the seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all of the hills will flow with it. 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.

¹⁶ So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains, as there was for Israel _⌊when_⌋* it went up from the land of Egypt.

²³ On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria. ²⁴ On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵ whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, "May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel."

¹² And this shall happen:
on that day, Yahweh will thresh from the floodwaters of the Euphrates to the wadi* of Egypt, and as for you, you will be gathered one by one, sons of Israel. ¹³ And this shall happen:
on that day, a great trumpet will be blown,
and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt,
and they will bow down to Yahweh on the _⌊holy mountain_⌋* at Jerusalem.

⁶ I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to the south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth—

¹² Look! These shall come from afar, And look! These from the north and from the west and these from the land of Sinim."

⁴ Lift up your eyes all around and see! All of them gather; they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be looked after on the hip. ⁵ Then you shall see and you shall be radiant; and your heart shall tremble and open itself wide, because the abundance of the sea shall fall upon you; the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶ A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young male camels of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praise of Yahweh. ⁷ All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall serve you. They shall present a sacrifice for favor on my altar, and I will glorify _⌊my honorable house_⌋.* ⁸ Who are these? They fly like a cloud, and like doves to their coops. ⁹ Because the coastlands wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish are first to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.

¹⁹ And I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow; Tubal and Javan, the faraway coastlands that have not heard of my fame, and have not seen my glory.
And they shall declare my glory among the nations, ²⁰ and bring all your countrymen* from all the nations as an offering to Yahweh on horses and chariots* and in litters and on mules and camels, to* _⌊my holy mountain_⌋,* Jerusalem," says Yahweh, "just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh.

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.*

³ "Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous.

⁸ Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth. Among them the blind, and the lame, those who are pregnant, and those who give birth, together, a great assembly, they will return here.

²¹ "On that day I will cause _⌊power_⌋* to grow up for the house of Israel, and for you I will give an opening of your mouth in the midst of them, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

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.

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.

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵ All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest for the time* that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it. ³⁶ As for* the ones who remain among you, I will bring* fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight _⌊before_⌋* a sword, and they shall fall, but* there shall not be a pursuer. ³⁷ And they shall stumble over _⌊one another_⌋* as _⌊from before_⌋* a sword, but* there shall not be a pursuer; and _⌊you shall have no resistance_⌋* _⌊before_⌋* your enemies. ³⁸ And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you. ³⁹ And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors,* they shall decay with them.

⁸ Just as I have seen, plowers of mischief and sowers of trouble will reap it.

³¹ They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes,

²² His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer, and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.

³¹ Give to her from the fruit of her hand, and may they praise her works in the city gates.

¹⁰ Tell the innocent* that it is good for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. ¹¹ Woe to the wicked!* It is bad! For what is done by his hands will be done to him.

¹¹ Then I said, "Until when, Lord?"
And he said,
"Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is ruined and a waste, ¹² and Yahweh sends the people far away, and the abandonment is great in the midst of the land. ¹³ And _⌊even if only a tenth part remain_⌋,* _⌊again she will be destroyed_⌋* like a terebinth or like an oak, which although felled, a tree stump remains in them. The seed of holiness will be her tree stump."

³ The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered,
for Yahweh has spoken this word. ⁴ The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, ⁵ and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes;* they have broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and _⌊few men are left_⌋.* ⁷ The new wine dries up; the vine languishes. All the merry of heart sigh; ⁸ the joy of the tambourine has stopped. The noise of the jubilant has ceased; the joy of the lyre has stopped.

¹⁰ I, Yahweh, examine the _⌊mind_⌋,* I test the _⌊heart_⌋,* and give to each one according to his way, according to the fruit of his deeds.

¹⁴ And I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "And I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it will devour all its surroundings." '"

¹¹ And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.*

¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds,

²⁶ _⌊And in that_⌋* they said to leave alone the stump of the tree's root, so your kingdom will be restored for you _⌊when_⌋* you acknowledge that heaven is sovereign. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you and your sin remove* with righteousness and your iniquity with having mercy on the oppressed, _⌊in case there might be a prolongation of your prosperity_⌋.'"*

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

¹³ And I also _⌊have made you sick by striking you down_⌋,* making you desolate because of your sins.

²⁰ "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. ²¹ Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those _⌊inside it_⌋* must depart, and those in the fields must not enter into it, ²² because these are days of vengeance, so that all the things that are written can be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to those _⌊who are pregnant_⌋* and to those who are nursing their babies* in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people, ²⁴ and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations,* and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap, ⁸ because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

¹⁶ And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And so we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the ground."

⁹ Because from the top of the rocks I see him, from hilltops I watch him. Behold, a people who dwell alone, they do not consider themselves among the nations.

²⁸ So Israel dwells alone and carefree, the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; his heavens even drip dew.

¹ A psalm of David.*
Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack for anything. ² In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me. ³ He restores my life.* He leads me in _⌊correct paths_⌋* for the sake of his name. ⁴ Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁹ Save your people and bless your heritage. Shepherd them also and carry them always.

⁵ I think about the days from long ago, the years of ancient times. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. With my heart I meditate, and my spirit searches to understand. ⁷ Will the Lord reject us forever, and will he never be pleased with us again? ⁸ Has his loyal love ceased forever? Is his promise* ended throughout generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to have compassion? Or has he closed off his mercies in anger? Selah ¹⁰ So I said, "This pierces me—* the right hand of the Most High has changed." ¹¹ I will remember the deeds of Yah.* Surely I will remember your wonders* from long ago.

⁷ For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. _⌊Today_⌋* if you will hear his voice:*

³ Know that Yahweh, he is God; he made us and we are his.* We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

⁵ I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your doings.* I muse on the labor of your hands.

² It shall blossom abundantly, and it shall rejoice indeed with rejoicing and exulting. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. _⌊They are the ones who_⌋* shall see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

²⁴ By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots,* I myself have gone up the height of the mountains, to the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off _⌊its tall cedars_⌋,* the choicest of its junipers. And I came to the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard.*

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arm, and he will carry them in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.

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.

¹⁰ And Sharon shall become a pasture for* flocks,* and the valley of Achor a resting place for* herds* for my people who have sought me.

⁷ Jerusalem remembers the days of her misery and wanderings, all her treasures that were from the days of long ago. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, there was no one helping her; the enemies saw her, they mocked at her destruction.

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

¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in good pasture, and their pasture will be on the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will lie down in good pasture, and on lush pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel.

⁴ And he will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God. And they will live, for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.

¹³ The remnant of Israel shall not do wickedness; they shall not speak deception, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall frighten them."

⁴ And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, like in the days of old and like in former years.

⁶ 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you will go out a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"*

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish _⌊forever_⌋,* and no one will seize them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them* to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize them* from the Father's hand. ³⁰ The Father and I are one."

¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

²⁰ And I will stretch out my hand, and I will strike Egypt with all of my wonders that I will do in its midst, and _⌊afterward_⌋* he will release you.

²² The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

¹² In front of their ancestors* he did a wonder, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ¹³ He split the sea and caused them to go over, and he caused waters to stand like a heap. ¹⁴ And he led them with the cloud by day, and all night with a fiery light. ¹⁵ He caused rocks to split in the wilderness and provided drink abundantly as from the depths. ¹⁶ And he brought streams out of the rock and caused water to flow down like rivers. ¹⁷ But they sinned still further against him by rebelling against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ And they tested God in their heart by asking food _⌊for their craving_⌋.* ¹⁹ And they spoke against God. They said, "Is God able to prepare a table in the wilderness? ²⁰ Yes, he struck the rock and water flowed and streams gushed out, but can he also give food or provide meat for his people?" ²¹ Therefore Yahweh heard and he was very angry, and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and his anger also rose up against Israel, ²² because they did not believe God, and they did not trust his salvation. 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. ²⁶ He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens and drove along the south wind by his strength. ²⁷ Then he rained meat on them like dust, even winged birds* like the sand of the seas. ²⁸ He caused them to fall in the midst of his camp, all around his dwellings. ²⁹ So they ate and were well filled, and he brought about what they craved. ³⁰ They had not yet turned aside from their craving, while their food was still in their mouth, ³¹ the anger of God rose against them, and he killed some of the stoutest of them, even the young men of Israel he caused to bow down in death. ³² In spite of all this they sinned further and did not believe his wonders. ³³ And he consumed their days with futility * their years with terror.* ³⁴ When he killed some of them, then they sought him, and repented and earnestly sought God. ³⁵ And they remembered that God was their rock, and God Most High their redeemer. ³⁶ But they enticed him with their mouth and lied to him with their tongue. ³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. 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, ³⁹ for he remembered that they were flesh, a passing wind that does not return. ⁴⁰ How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and vexed him in the wasteland! ⁴¹ So they again tested God and distressed* the Holy One of Israel. ⁴² And they did not remember his _⌊power_⌋* _⌊when_⌋* he redeemed them from the enemy, ⁴³ how he performed* his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan, ⁴⁴ when he turned their rivers* to blood so they could not drink from their streams. ⁴⁵ He sent among them flies that devoured them and frogs that destroyed them. ⁴⁶ And he gave their crop to the locusts and their labor to the locust.* ⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.* ⁴⁸ He also handed their cattle over to the hail and their livestock to the lightning bolts. ⁴⁹ He sent against them his fierce anger, rage and indignation and trouble, a band of _⌊destroying_⌋* angels. ⁵⁰ He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them* from death but handed their life over to the plague. ⁵¹ And he struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their virility in the tents of Ham. ⁵² Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them like a herd in the wilderness. ⁵³ And he led them safely and they were not afraid, but the sea covered their enemies. ⁵⁴ So he brought them to his holy territory,* this mountain his right hand acquired.* ⁵⁵ And he drove out nations before them and allocated them for an inheritance by boundary line, and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. ⁵⁶ But they tested and rebelled against God Most High and did not keep his statutes. 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. ⁵⁹ God heard and he was very angry and rejected Israel utterly. ⁶⁰ So he abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, the tent he had placed among humankind. ⁶¹ And he gave his strength into captivity and his splendor into the hand of the enemy. ⁶² He also handed his people over to the sword, and he was very angry with his inheritance. ⁶³ Fire devoured his young men, and his young women* were not praised. ⁶⁴ His priests fell by the sword, and his widows did not weep. ⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke like one who had been asleep, awoke like a warrior who had been drunk with wine.* ⁶⁶ And he beat back his enemies; he gave them over to perpetual scorn. ⁶⁷ And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not chose the tribe of Ephraim, ⁶⁸ but chose the tribe of Judah, _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* that he loved. ⁶⁹ And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever. ⁷⁰ And he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds. ⁷¹ He brought him from following nursing ewes to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. ⁷² And he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skillfulness of his hands.

⁹ Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as in days of long ago, the generations of a long time back! Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, the one who pierced the sea-dragon?

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. 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.

⁷ "_⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from the land of Egypt,' ⁸ but '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,* who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.' Then they will live in their land."

⁵ Turn to me and be appalled, and place your hand on your mouth.

⁹ Officials refrained from talking, and they laid their hand on their mouth. ¹⁰ The voices* of nobles were hushed, and their tongue stuck to their palate.

⁴ "Look, I am insignificant. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

² Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing. Then they said among the nations, "Yahweh has done great things for these people."

¹¹ Yahweh, though your hand reaches high, they do not see it.
Let them see, and let them be ashamed of the zeal of people. Indeed, let the fire of your enemies consume them.

¹⁵ so he shall sprinkle many nations; because of him, kings shall shut their mouths.* For they shall see what has not been told them, and they shall consider with full attention what they have not heard.

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

²³ And so I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.'"

¹⁷ "And you, son of man,* thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Say to _⌊all kinds of birds and animals of the field_⌋,* "Be gathered, come be gathered _⌊from everywhere_⌋* to my sacrifice that I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh, and you will drink blood. ¹⁸ Flesh of warriors you will eat, and the blood of leaders of the land you will drink; rams, young rams and goats, bulls, and the fattened animals of Bashan—all of them! ¹⁹ And you will eat fat _⌊until you are satiated_⌋,* and you will drink blood _⌊until you are drunk_⌋* from my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, ²⁰ and you will be satisfied at my table with horse and horsemen and warriors and every man of war," ' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²¹ "And I will display my glory among the nations, and all of the nations will see my judgment that I have executed and my hand that I have laid upon them.

⁸ And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the wild animals of the forest, like a young lion among the herds of sheep which, when it passes through and treads down and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.

²⁰ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'It will happen again that nations and the inhabitants of many cities will come. ²¹ And the inhabitants of one city will go to another city, saying, "Let us go immediately to entreat _⌊the favor of_⌋* Yahweh, to seek Yahweh of hosts—I also will go!" ²² And many peoples and powerful* nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat _⌊the favor of_⌋* Yahweh.' ²³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'In those days ten men from _⌊all the nations of every language_⌋* will take hold of the hem of a Judean man,* saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you!" '"

⁹ _⌊And then_⌋* on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations coming against Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law, in order that every mouth may be closed and the whole world may become accountable to God.

¹⁸ And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give their* reward to your slaves the prophets and to the saints and to the ones who fear your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

¹⁴ Then* Yahweh God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this, you will be cursed more than any domesticated animal and more than any wild animal.* On your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put hostility between you and between the woman, and between your offspring* and between her offspring;* he will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel."

¹⁴ Peoples heard; they trembled; anguish seized the inhabitants of Philistia. ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were horrified; great distress seized the leaders of Moab; all of the inhabitants of Canaan melted away. ¹⁶ Terror and dread fell on them; at the greatness of your arm they became silent like the stone, until your people passed by, Yahweh, until the people whom you bought passed by.

⁹ and said to the men, "I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away in fear because of your presence. ¹⁰ For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* before you when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹ We heard this, and our hearts* melted, and _⌊no courage was left in anyone_⌋* because of your presence. For Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

²⁴ And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told with certainty to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded Moses his servant to give to you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, so we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing.

¹¹ So the two of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, "The Hebrews are coming out from the holes in which they have hidden themselves."

²⁰ O Yahweh, put them in fear. Let the nations know they are merely human. Selah

⁴⁵ The children of a foreign land _⌊lost heart_⌋,* and they came trembling from their strongholds.

⁹ Let the desert dwellers bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁹ and they will enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the ground from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty _⌊when he rises_⌋* to terrify the earth. ²⁰ On that day humanity will throw away its idols of silver and its idols of gold, which they made for it to worship, to the rodents* and to the bats— ²¹ to enter into the crevices of the rocks and into the clefts of the crags from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty, _⌊when he rises_⌋* to terrify the earth.

³ Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; a city of ruthless nations, they will fear you.

²³ And kings shall be your _⌊guardians_⌋,* and their queens your nurses. They shall bow down, _⌊faces_⌋* to the ground, to you, and they will lick up the dust of your feet. Then* you will know that I am Yahweh; those who await me shall not be ashamed.

¹⁹ So* they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the sunrise, for he will come like a narrow stream; the wind of Yahweh drives it on.

¹⁴ And the children of those who oppressed you shall come to you bending low, and all those who treated you disrespectfully shall bow down at the soles of your feet. And they shall call you the city of Yahweh, Zion of the holy one of Israel.

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_⌋.*

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed like one, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but* dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall do no evil, and they shall not destroy on all _⌊my holy mountain_⌋,"* says Yahweh.

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.'

²⁹ Let _⌊him put_⌋* his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is hope.

⁵ And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, because the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal, and you will flee like you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. And Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.*

⁹ Behold, I am causing those of the synagogue of Satan, the ones who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying—behold, I will make them _⌊come_⌋* and kneel down before your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

⁹ And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ standing _⌊far off_⌋* because of the fear of her torment, saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the powerful city, because in one hour your judgment has come!"

¹¹ Who is like you among the gods, Yahweh? Who is like you—glorious in holiness, awesome in praiseworthy actions, doing wonders?*

¹⁸ And he said, "Please show me your glory." ¹⁹ And he said, "I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion."

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

⁹ And he said, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, Lord, let my Lord, please, go among us—indeed it is a stiff-necked people—and forgive our iniquity and our sin and _⌊take us as your possession_⌋."*

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

²¹ He has no regard for evil in Jacob, and he does not see trouble in Israel; Yahweh his God is with him, and a shout* of a king is among them.*

²⁶ "There is no one like God, O, Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and with his majesty through the skies.

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

¹⁷ They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion _⌊determined_⌋* to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them.

¹⁰ All of my bones shall say, "O Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from one stronger than he and the poor and needy from the one who robs him?"

³ Iniquities* prevail over me. As for our transgressions, you will _⌊forgive_⌋* them.

¹⁹ And your righteousness, O God, is to the height of heaven. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?

⁶ I remember my song in the night. With my heart I meditate, and my spirit searches to understand. ⁷ Will the Lord reject us forever, and will he never be pleased with us again? ⁸ Has his loyal love ceased forever? Is his promise* ended throughout generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to have compassion? Or has he closed off his mercies in anger? Selah ¹⁰ So I said, "This pierces me—* the right hand of the Most High has changed."

⁴ Restore us, O God of our salvation, and annul your vexation with us. ⁵ Will you be angry against us forever? Will you prolong your anger generation after generation?

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

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

⁶ For who in the sky* is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God,

⁸ O Yahweh God of hosts, who is mighty like you, O Yah, with* your faithfulness surrounding you?

² Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits: ³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

⁸ Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and abundant in loyal love. ⁹ He does not dispute continually, nor keep his anger forever.

¹³ As a father pities* his children, so Yahweh pities* those who fear him.

⁵ Who is like Yahweh our God, who is enthroned on high,* ⁶ who _⌊condescends to look at_⌋* what is in the heavens and in the earth?

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

⁷ O Israel, wait* for Yahweh. For with Yahweh there is loyal love, and with him there is abundant redemption. ⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

¹⁸ "Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

¹⁸ And to whom will you liken God? And to what likeness will you compare him?

²⁵ "And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?" says the holy one.

²⁵ I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins.

²² I have wiped your transgressions out like a cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you!"

⁸ Remember this and pluck up courage! Call to _⌊mind_⌋,* you transgressors! ⁹ Remember the former things from _⌊a long time ago_⌋,* for I am God and there is none besides me, God and there is none like me,

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_⌋.*

¹⁰ You grow weary by the greatness of your way, but you did not say, 'Despairing!' You found the _⌊renewal_⌋* of your _⌊strength_⌋,* therefore you do not grow weak.

¹⁶ For I will not attack forever, and I will not be angry forever, for the spirit will grow faint before me, and the breaths that I myself I have made.

⁵ For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as is the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

¹⁹ And I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people, and the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it, or* the sound of a cry for help.

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_⌋.*

³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Know Yahweh,' for all of them will know me, from their _⌊smallest_⌋* and up to their _⌊greatest_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember."

⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart, and with all my inner self."*

⁸ Ebed-melech went out from the house of the king and spoke to the king, _⌊saying_⌋,*

²⁰ In those days and at that time," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind.

³¹ For the Lord will not reject forever. ³² For even though he causes grief he has compassion according to the greatness of his royal love.

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

⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him,

³² And it will happen—everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be rescued, because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be _⌊those who escape_⌋,* as Yahweh said, and among the survivors whom Yahweh is calling.

⁸ And Yahweh said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "A plummet." And my Lord said, "Look, I am going to set a plummet in the midst of my people, Israel. I will not pass them by again.

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

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

⁷ And I will make the one who limps a remnant, and the one driven far away a strong nation, and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from now to forever.

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

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

¹⁴ Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

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.

⁵ And when he* has found it,* he places it* on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he* returns to his* home, he calls together his* friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!' ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

⁹ And when she* has found it,* she calls together her* friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma that I had lost!' ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

²³ And bring the fattened calf—kill it* and let us eat and* celebrate, ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

³² But it was necessary to celebrate and to rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead, and is alive, and was lost, and is found!'"

⁴⁷ and repentance and the forgiveness* of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations,* beginning from Jerusalem.

³⁸ "Therefore let it be known to you, men and brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses, ³⁹ by this one everyone who believes is justified!

⁴ But what does the divine response say to him? "I have left for myself seven thousand people* who have not bent the knee to Baal."*

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, ⁵ and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved),

⁹ not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be _⌊their_⌋* God and they will be _⌊my_⌋* people. ¹¹ And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. ¹² For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer."

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

³ and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and _⌊he will again gather you together_⌋* from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there.

⁶ "And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self* _⌊so that you may live_⌋.*

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.*

⁸ But now for a brief moment mercy has been shown by Yahweh our God, who left behind for us a remnant, and given us security in his holy place—for our God to brighten our eyes and to give us brief relief in our bondage. ⁹ For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance* and to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹³ Return,* O Yahweh. How long? And have compassion on* your servants. ¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

¹² As far as east is from west, so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.

⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

¹⁷ Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace. And you were the one who loved* my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

¹⁵ Look from heaven, and see from the lofty residence of your holiness and glory. Where are your zeal and strength? _⌊Your compassion_⌋* and mercy to me hold themselves back. ¹⁶ For you are our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh are our father, Our Redeemer from of old is your name. ¹⁷ Why do you make us wander, Yahweh? You harden our heart from your ways _⌊so that we do not fear_⌋* you. Turn back for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

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.

³² For even though he causes grief he has compassion according to the greatness of his royal love.

¹⁹ And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give* in their inner parts. And I will remove their* heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God.

²⁵ And I will sprinkle on you pure water, and you will be clean from all of your uncleanness, and I will cleanse you from all of your idols. ²⁶ And I will give a new heart to you, and a new spirit I will give* into your inner parts, and I will remove the* heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will give* my spirit into your inner parts, and I will make it so that you will go* in my rules, and my regulations you will remember, and you will do them.

²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.*

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

¹⁴ For sin will not be master over you, because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you were slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸ and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. ¹⁹ (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you presented your members as slaves to immorality and lawlessness, leading to lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with respect to righteousness. ²¹ Therefore what sort of fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now, having been set free from sin and having been enslaved to God, you have your fruit leading to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

²³ but I observe another law in my members, at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that exists in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be* to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.

² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. By* sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴ who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

⁵ Or do you think that in vain the scripture says, "The spirit which he caused to dwell in us desires jealously"?* ⁶ But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says,
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."*

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

² And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. ³ And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you."

⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you _⌊the land in which you are living as an alien_⌋,* all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

¹⁶ And he said, "I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, ¹⁷ that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice."

³ Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father. ⁴ And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,

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.

⁸ but* _⌊because of_⌋* the love of Yahweh for you and because of his keeping of the sworn oath that he swore to your ancestors,* Yahweh brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

⁸ He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, ⁹ that he made with Abraham, and by his oath swore to Isaac. ¹⁰ He then confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

²⁵ Thus says Yahweh: 'If my covenant with day and with night, the regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established, ²⁶ then the offspring of Jacob and David my servant I would reject, from choosing rulers from his offspring over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will restore their fortunes* and I will have compassion on them.'"

⁵⁴ He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, ⁵⁵ just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants _⌊forever_⌋."*

⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us ⁷⁴ that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, could serve him without fear

²⁵ You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.'* ²⁶ God, after he* had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you back from your wickedness!"

²⁶ and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,
"The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ And this is the covenant from me with them* when I take away their sins."* 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. ³⁰ For just as you formerly were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of the disobedience of these, ³¹ so also these have now been disobedient for your mercy, in order that they also may now be shown mercy.

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,