Zephaniah Cross References - NSB

¹ This is the word Jehovah (YHWH) spoke to Zephaniah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, and the great-grandson of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Jehovah spoke his word in the days of Judah's King Josiah, son of Amon. ² »I will destroy (take away) (remove) (consume) everything on the face of the earth!« declared Jehovah. (Zephaniah 2:3) ³ »I will terminate both man and beast. I will put an end to the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea. I will eliminate the sins that make people fall, together with the sinners. I will remove people from the face of the earth,« declared Jehovah. ⁴ »I will use my power against Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will destroy followers of Baal in this place. I will remove the names of the pagan (idolatrous) priests along with my priests. ⁵ »I will remove those who bow down to worship the host of heaven on the housetops and those who bow down and swear to Jehovah and yet swear by Malcolm. ⁶ »The same for those who have turned back from following Jehovah, and those who have not sought Jehovah or inquired of Him.« ⁷ Be silent before the Sovereign Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near! Jehovah has prepared a sacrifice. He has sanctified His guests. ⁸ »On that day of Jehovah’s sacrifice,« said Jehovah, »I will punish the officials, the king's sons, and all who practice foreign customs. ⁹ »I will punish all who worship false gods and who steal and kill in order to fill their master's house with violence.« ¹⁰ »On that day,« said Jehovah, »you will hear the sound of crying at the Fish Gate in Jerusalem. You will hear wailing in the newer part of the city and a loud crash from the hills. ¹¹ »Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! The people of Canaan have perished. Those wealthy with silver will be destroyed. ¹² »At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the men that are satisfied with their wayward lifestyle. They say in their heart, ‘Jehovah will not do good and he will not do evil.’ ¹³ »Their wealth will be looted. Their homes will be demolished. They will build houses. However they will not live in them! They will plant vineyards. But they will not drink their wine! ¹⁴ »The great Day of Jehovah is near. It is near and coming quickly. Listen! The mighty man will cry out bitterly on the Day of Jehovah. ¹⁵ »That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish. That day will be a day of trouble, devastation and desolation! It will be a day of darkness and gloom. Indeed that day will be a day of clouds and overcast skies. ¹⁶ »That day will be a day of alarm signals and battle cries against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. ¹⁷ »I will bring distress on humans and they will walk like they are blind! They have sinned against Jehovah! Their blood will be poured out like dust and their intestines like manure. ¹⁸ »Their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the Day of Jehovah’s anger (rage) (wrath). He will devour all the nations by the fire of his zeal! He will exterminate all the inhabitants of the earth!«

⁷ So Jehovah said: »I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth. All of them: men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air. I am sorry that I created them.«

¹² »You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.

³³ »‘I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted. ³⁴ »‘Then the land will enjoy its time to honor Jehovah while it lies deserted. You will be in your enemies' land. Then the land will joyfully celebrate its time to honor Jehovah. ³⁵ »‘All the days it lies deserted, it will celebrate the time to honor Jehovah it never celebrated while you lived there.

²⁰ »Respect Jehovah your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

⁵ »A woman must not wear man's clothing or a man women’s clothing. The person who does these things is an abomination to Jehovah your God.

²⁸ »You will become insane and go blind. Jehovah will make you so confused, ²⁹ that even in bright sunshine you will have to feel your way around like a blind person. You will tell day from night! For the rest of your life, people will beat and rob you. No one will be able to stop them. ³⁰ »A man will be engaged to a woman, but before they can get married, enemy soldiers will rape her. Some of you will build houses, but never get to live in them. If you plant a vineyard, you will not be around long enough to enjoy the first harvest.

³⁹ »You will plant vineyards and tend them but will not drink the wine from them. Worms will eat them.

⁵¹ »They will eat the offspring of your animals and the crops from your fields until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, no new wine, no olive oil, no calves from your herds, and no lambs or kids from your flocks. They will continue to do this until you are completely desolate.

²⁰ Jehovah will never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of Jehovah and / His jealousy will burn against that man. Every curse which is written in this book will rest on him. Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ »Jehovah will destroy you by piling on you all the curses that are written in this book of Law. You will be forgotten forever. ²² »The next generation of your children and foreigners who come from distant countries will see the plagues that have happened in this land and the diseases Jehovah sent here. ²³ »All its land is brimstone and salt. It is a burning waste, unsown and unproductive. No grass grows on it. Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger and in his wrath. ²⁴ »All the nations will say: Why has Jehovah done thus to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?' ²⁵ »Then men will say: ‘Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ »‘They served other gods and worshiped them. These are gods whom they have not known and whom he had not allotted to them. ²⁷ »‘Jehovah became angry against this land and brought on it all the curses described in this book. ²⁸ »‘His fierce anger and fury caused Jehovah to uproot these people from their land and deported them to another country. This is where they still are today.’

¹⁷ »‘My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be consumed by many evils and troubles. They will say in that day: ‘Is it because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’

²¹ »They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods. They angered him because they worshiped worthless idols. So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous and a nation of godless fools to make them angry. ²² My anger has started a fire that will burn into the depths of the grave. It will consume the earth and its crops and set the foundations of the mountains on fire. ²³ »I will heap distress on them! I will use my arrows on them. ²⁴ »They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter destruction. I will send teeth of wild animals on them, with the venom of crawling things (reptiles) of the dust. ²⁵ »Outside the sword will bereave. Inside terror shall destroy both young man and virgin, babies and old man with gray hair.

⁷ »You will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them.

⁵ That is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who enters Dagon’s temple in Ashdod do not step on the temple’s threshold, even to this day.

⁹ »He guards the feet of his holy ones. The wicked are silenced in darkness. Man will not prevail by strength. ¹⁰ »The adversaries of Jehovah will be broken to pieces. He thunders in the heavens against them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king and exalt the horn (power) of His anointed.«

¹⁵ Before they burned the fat the priest’s servant came and said to the man who sacrificed: »Give flesh to roast for the priest. For he will not have boiled flesh from you, but raw!« ¹⁶ If any man said to him: »Let them burn the fat first, you may take as much as you desire.« Then he would answer him, »No! But you will give it now! If not, I will take it by force.«

¹¹ »I am sorry that I made Saul king. He has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands.« Samuel was angry. All night long he pleaded with Jehovah.

⁵ »Greetings,« he replied, »I have come to sacrifice to Jehovah. »Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and come with me to the sacrifice.« He performed the ceremonies for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

²⁶ Saul was in deep thought. So he did not say anything that day. Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival. Yes, something must have happened.

⁷ However, David captured the fortress Zion, that is, the City of David.

⁹ David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built the city of Jerusalem around it from the stronghold (citadel) to the palace.

⁵ Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites.

³³ »‘I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods. Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon disobeyed me. He has done wrong! He has not obeyed my laws and commands as his father David did.

²² The people of Judah sinned against Jehovah. They did more to arouse his anger against them than all their ancestors had done.

²¹ Elijah came near to all the people and said: »How long will you balance (bounce back and forth) between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, then give worship to him. If Baal is, give worship to him.« The people did not answer him.

²⁰ when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself: »My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living God Jehovah I will run after him and get something from him.« ²¹ He ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw a man running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and asked: »What is wrong?« ²² »Nothing is wrong,« answered Gehazi. »But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived. He would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes.« ²³ »Please take six thousand pieces of silver,« Naaman replied. He tied the silver in two bags and gave them and two changes of fine clothes to two of his servants, and sent them on ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ They reached the hill where Elisha lived. Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman's servants back. ²⁵ He went into the house. Elisha asked him: »Where have you been?« »Oh, nowhere,« he answered. ²⁶ Elisha said: »Was I there in spirit when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept money and clothes, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants! ²⁷ »Naaman's leprosy will come upon you. You and your descendants will have it from generation to generation!« When Gehazi left, he had the disease. His skin was as white as snow.

³³ He said: »Take her and throw her out the window.« So they threw her down with force. Her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses. She was crushed under their feet. ³⁴ He came in and ate and drank. He said: »Now see to this cursed woman. Bury her body in the earth, for she is a king's daughter.« ³⁵ They went to bury her, but they found nothing to bury. There were only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands. ³⁶ So they came back and told him about it. He said: »This is what Jehovah said by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the heritage of Jezreel the flesh of Jezebel will become food for dogs. ³⁷ »‘The dead body of Jezebel will be like waste dropped on the face of the earth in the heritage of Jezreel. They will not be able to say: »This is Jezebel.«’«

²² Jehu said to the keeper of the robes: »Get out robes for all the servants of Baal.« So he got out robes for them.

³³ They worshipped Jehovah, but they gave honor to their gods like the nations did from whom they had been taken as prisoners.

⁴¹ So these nations worshiped Jehovah and they still served the images (idols) they had made. Their children and their children's children did the same. They do just as their fathers did to this very day.

¹³ »‘The line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab will be stretched over Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face.

¹ Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. He walked in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right hand or to the left. ³ Now in the eighteenth year after he became king, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah son of Meshullam the scribe, to the Temple of Jehovah. He said to him: ⁴ »Go to Hilkiah the high priest. Let him count the money brought into the Temple of Jehovah that the keepers of the door gathered from the people. ⁵ »Let them deliver it to the workmen who have oversight of the work of Jehovah’s Temple. Then they can pay it to the workmen who are making good what was damaged in the Temple of Jehovah. ⁶ »To the woodworkers and the builders and the stonecutters; and for getting wood and cut stones for building the Temple. ⁷ »Since the workmen are honest, do not require them to account for the money you give them.« ⁸ The chief priest Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan: »I found the Book of the Law in Jehovah’s House.« Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who then read it. ⁹ The scribe Shaphan reported to the king: »We have taken the money donated in the temple and have given it to the workmen who are in charge of Jehovah’s House.« ¹⁰ Then the scribe Shaphan told the king: The priest Hilkiah has given me a book. Shaphan read it to the king. ¹¹ When the king heard what the book of the Law said, he tore his clothes in distress. ¹² The king gave an order to the priest Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said: ¹³ »Go inquire of Jehovah on my behalf and for the people. This is concerning the words in this book that has been found. Jehovah’s fierce anger is directed towards us because our ancestors did not obey the things in this book or do everything written in it.« ¹⁴ So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

¹⁴ So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ She told them: »This is what Jehovah God of Israel says: Tell the man who sent you to me: ¹⁶ ‘This is what Jehovah says: »I am going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here. This is according to everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read.

¹⁶ ‘This is what Jehovah says: »I am going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here. This is according to everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ »‘I will do this because they abandoned me. They sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my burning anger against this place will never be extinguished.«’«

¹⁷ »‘I will do this because they abandoned me. They sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my burning anger against this place will never be extinguished.«’« ¹⁸ Huldah added: »Tell Judah's king who sent you to me to ask Jehovah a question. This is what Jehovah God of Israel says about the words you heard: ¹⁹ ‘You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of Jehovah when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. I said that those who live here would be destroyed and cursed. You also tore your clothes in distress and cried in front of me. So I will listen to you,’« declares Jehovah. ²⁰ »That is why I will bring you to your ancestors. I will bring you to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster I will bring on this place.«’« They reported this to the king.

⁴ Then the king ordered the high priest Hilkiah, the priests who served under Hilkiah, and the doorkeepers to remove from Jehovah’s Temple all utensils that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the entire army of heaven. Josiah burned the utensils outside Jerusalem. It was in an open field near the Kidron Brook. Then he carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He got rid of the pagan priests. The kings of Judah appointed them to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship in the cities of Judah and all around Jerusalem. They had been sacrificing to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations of the zodiac (Mazzalohth Constellation-Job 38:32), and the entire army of heaven.

¹² The altars the kings of Judah built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple. He smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley.

³⁰ His servants took his body in a carriage from Megiddo to Jerusalem. They buried him there. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, and put the holy oil on him and made him king in place of his father. ³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his fathers had done. ³³ And Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So that he was not king in Jerusalem. Pharaoh Necho extracted from the land a tax of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴ Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father. He changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, where he remained till he died.

¹² King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner. ¹³ The Babylonians carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As Jehovah foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils King Solomon had made for use in the Temple.

⁶ They made the king a prisoner and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged. ⁷ They put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, chained him with iron bands and took him to Babylon.

¹⁹ From the city he also took an army commander, five men who had access to the king whom he found in the city, the scribe who was in charge of the militia, and sixty of the common people whom he found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ The king of Babylon executed them at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So the people of Judah were captives when they left their land.

¹ Solomon began to build Jehovah’s Temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. That is where Jehovah appeared to his father David. David had prepared the site on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

¹ Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He was king for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² He did what Jehovah considered right. He lived in the ways of his ancestor David and never stopped living this way. ³ It was the eighth year of his reign. He was still a boy when he dedicated his life to service of the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king he purged Judah and Jerusalem by destroying the illegal places of worship, poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, carved idols, and metal idols. ⁴ He tore down the altars of the Baal gods. He cut down the incense altars that were above them. He destroyed the Asherah poles, carved idols, and metal idols. He ground them into powder and scattered the powder over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.

⁴ He tore down the altars of the Baal gods. He cut down the incense altars that were above them. He destroyed the Asherah poles, carved idols, and metal idols. He ground them into powder and scattered the powder over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. Thus he made Judah and Jerusalem clean. ⁶ In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, he removed all their temples. ⁷ Then he tore down the altars, beat the Asherah poles and idols into powder, and cut down all the incense altars everywhere in Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem. ⁸ In his eighteenth year as king as he was making the land and the temple clean, Josiah sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the mayor of the city, and Joah, the royal historian and son of Joahaz, to repair the Temple of Jehovah his God. ⁹ They came to the chief priest Hilkiah and gave him the money that had been brought into God’s Temple. It was the money that the Levite doorkeepers had collected from the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all who were left in Israel, from everyone in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They gave the money to the foremen who were in charge of Jehovah’s Temple. These foremen gave it to the workmen who were restoring and repairing the Temple. ¹¹ These workers included carpenters and builders. They were to buy quarried stones and wood for the fittings and beams of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to become run-down. ¹² The men did their work faithfully under the supervision of Jahath and Obadiah; Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam descendants of Kohath. The Levites, who were skilled musicians, ¹³ also supervised the workers and directed all the workmen on the various jobs. Some of the Levites served as scribes, officials, or gatekeepers. ¹⁴ At the time they brought out the money that had been deposited in Jehovah’s Temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of Jehovah’s Law written by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan: »I have found the book of the Law in Jehovah’s Temple.« Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king and reported: »We are doing everything you told us to do. ¹⁷ »We took the money that was donated in Jehovah’s Temple and gave it to the supervisors and the workmen.« ¹⁸ The scribe Shaphan told the king: »The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.« Shaphan read it to the king. ¹⁹ As soon as the king heard what the Law said, he tore his clothes in distress. ²⁰ Then the king gave an order to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said: ²¹ »On behalf of those who are left in Israel and Judah and me, ask Jehovah about the words in this book that was found. Jehovah’s fierce anger has been poured on us because our ancestors did not obey the word of Jehovah by doing everything written in this book.« ²² Hilkiah and the king’s officials went to talk to the prophet Huldah about this matter. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath and grandson of Hasrah. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem. ²³ She told them: »This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: »Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ »This is what Jehovah says: ‘I am going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here. This is according to the curses written in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵ »‘I will do this because they have abandoned me. They have sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my anger will be poured on this place and it will not be extinguished.’« ²⁶ Huldah continued: »Tell Judah’s king who sent you to me to ask Jehovah a question: ‘This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says about the words you heard: ²⁷ »‘»You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of God when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. You humbled yourself, tore your clothes in distress, and cried in front of me. So I will listen to you, proclaims Jehovah. ²⁸ »‘‘That is why I am going to bring you to your ancestors. I am going to bring you to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster I am going to bring on this place and those who live here.«’« They reported this to the king. ²⁹ The king sent for all the respected leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to join him. ³⁰ The king, everyone in Judah, everyone living in Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, young and old, went up to Jehovah’s Temple. He read everything written in the Book of the Covenant found in Jehovah’s Temple so that they could hear it. ³¹ The king stood in his place and made a promise to Jehovah that he would follow Jehovah and obey his commandments, instructions, and laws with his entire heart and being. He said he would live by the terms of the covenant (promise) written in this book. ³² He also made all those found in Jerusalem and Benjamin join with him in the covenant. Then the people of Jerusalem lived according to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. ³³ Josiah got rid of all the disgusting idols throughout Israelite territory. He required all people in Israel to serve Jehovah their God. As long as he lived, they did not stop following Jehovah the God of their ancestors.

²¹ This fulfilled the word of Jehovah that was spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

²² So Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from everyone else. Jehovah gave them peace with all their neighbors.

¹⁴ Then Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon Spring in the valley to the entrance of Fish Gate. He made the wall go around the Ophel. He built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah.

³ The sons of Hassenaah were the builders of the fish doorway. They put its boards in place and put up its doors, with their locks and rods.

³¹ After him Malchijah, one of the gold-workers to the Nethinim and the traders, made good the wall opposite the doorway of Hammiphkad and as far as the way up to the angle. ³² And between the way up to the angle and the Sheep Gate, the gold-workers and the traders made good the wall.

¹⁵ Earlier rulers who came before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver. Even their servants were lords over the people. But I did not do so, out of reverence for God.

⁴ »Let that day turn to darkness. May God above not care about it. Let no light shine upon it. ⁵ »Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it once more. May a cloud settle over it and may blackness overwhelm its light. ⁶ »About that night, may thick darkness seize it. May it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. ⁷ »Let the night be barren and may no shout of joy be heard in it. ⁸ »May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to lift up Leviathan (Babylonian symbol of sadness and mourning).

¹⁵ »Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what do we gain if we pray to him?

³⁰ »They say the wicked are spared in the day of calamity, and are rescued in the day of wrath?

⁵ I spoke once, but I cannot answer twice. I will proceed no further.«

⁴ In his arrogant attitude he does not search for God. His faulty reasoning concludes: »There is no God.«

¹¹ He says in his heart (to himself): »God has forgotten. He has hidden his face. He will never see it!« ¹² Arise, O Jehovah! Lift your hand, O God. Do not forget oppressed people! ¹³ Why does the wicked person despise God? Why does he say in his heart: »God does not require it?«

⁴ »I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I will put my hand over my mouth.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) The fool says in his heart: »There is no God (Jehovah) (Psalm 10:4).« They are corrupt. They do disgusting things. No one does good things. ² Jehovah looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there is anyone who acts wisely, if there is anyone who seeks help from God. ³ Everyone has turned away. Together they have become rotten to the core. No one, not even one person, does good things.

³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit and he ceased to be wise and do good.

¹⁰ Cease your endeavors and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be glorified in the earth!

¹² Walk around Zion. Go around it. Count its towers. ¹³ Examine its embankments. Inspect its watchtowers. Then you can tell the next generation,

⁶ They trust their riches and brag about their abundant wealth. ⁷ No one can ever redeem (buy back) his brother or pay God a ransom for his life. ⁸ The price to be paid for him is so costly it can never be paid ⁹ so they should live forever and never see the grave (pit) (destruction).

⁵ God will destroy you forever. He will remove you from your dwelling place from out of the land of the living. ⁶ The righteous also sees, and fears, and laughs at him. They say: ⁷ Here is the man who did not make God his strength (refuge) (stronghold). He trusted in the abundance of his riches. He strengthened himself in his wickedness.

⁸ You caused judgment to be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still ⁹ when God arose to judgment, to save all the humble of the earth.

⁵⁸ They provoked him to anger (indignation) because of their illegal worship sites. They made him furious because they worshiped idols.

² They have given the dead bodies of your servants to the birds for food. They have given the flesh of your godly ones to the animals. ³ They have shed the blood of your people around Jerusalem as though it were water. There is no one to bury your people.

⁵ How long, O Jehovah? Will you remain angry forever? Will your fury (zeal) continue to burn like fire?

⁷ They say: Jehovah does not see it. The God of Jacob does not even pay attention to it.

¹⁰ Who perished at Endor and became as dung for the earth.

⁵ Jehovah will lead those who turn away from their crooked ways with the workers of iniquity. Israel will have peace.

¹ Wisdom built her house. She carved her seven pillars. ² She prepared her food and mixed her wine. She furnished her table. ³ She sent her maidens. She cried on the highest places of the city, ⁴ »Who is simple? Let him turn in here! He who lacks understanding,« she says to him, ⁵ »Come eat my bread, and drink the wine that I have mixed. ⁶ »Forsake the foolish, and live. Travel in the way of understanding.«

⁴ Riches do not profit in the day of wrath. Righteousness delivers from death.

¹¹ The rich man's wealth is his strong city. It is his high wall of vanity.

¹² If a ruler listens to lies, all his servants are wicked.

¹² All who are proud will be humbled. Jehovah of Hosts will have his day against all who are arrogant and conceited.

¹² All who are proud will be humbled. Jehovah of Hosts will have his day against all who are arrogant and conceited. ¹³ It will also be against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan, ¹⁴ against all the high mountains and all the lofty hills, ¹⁵ against every high tower and every fortified wall,

²⁰ That day people will throw their silver and gold idols, that they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and the bats. ²¹ They will go into caves in the rocks and into cracks in the cliffs because of Jehovah’s terrifying presence and the honor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth.

¹⁸ On that day Jehovah will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces, ¹⁹ pendants, bracelets, scarves, ²⁰ hats, ankle bracelets, blouses, perfume boxes, charms, ²¹ signet rings, nose rings, ²² fine robes, coats, shawls, purses, ²³ mirrors, underwear, headdresses, and veils. ²⁴ Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.

⁸ Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land! ⁹ With my own ears I heard Jehovah of Hosts say: »Many houses will become empty. Large, beautiful houses will be without people to live in them.

¹⁹ You say: »Let Jehovah hurry up and do what he says he will, so that we can see it. Let Israel's holy God carry out his plans. Let us see what he has in mind.«

⁵ »Woe to me!« I cried. »I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips (a sinner) and I live among a people of unclean (filthy) lips (speech) (language). My eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts.«

¹¹ Then I said: »How long, O Jehovah? And He answered: »Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, until the houses are deserted and the land is utterly desolate.

⁶ »Shout (wail) (howl) for the Day of Jehovah is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

²⁶ This is my purpose (plan) (advise) for the world, and my arm (extended power) is stretched out to punish the nations. ²⁷ Jehovah of Hosts is determined to do this. He has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.

⁴ Heshbon and Elealeh cry out. Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud and tremble with fear.

⁴ I said: »Turn away from me. Let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.« ⁵ The Lord Jehovah of Hosts has a day of tumult, trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision. It is a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.

⁵ The Lord Jehovah of Hosts has a day of tumult, trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision. It is a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.

⁹ By this Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin. When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.

¹⁰ Jehovah has made you drowsy. He shut your eyes in a deep sleep you prophets and visionaries. He overwhelmed your leaders.

¹⁴ Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watchtower have become caves forever. They will be a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.

⁷ Their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the messengers (ambassadors) of peace weep bitterly.

⁴ Woe to the sinful nation, people heavy with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons who are corrupt! They have forsaken Jehovah! They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from him.

²⁴ That is why Jehovah, Jehovah of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, says: »How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents! I will avenge myself against my enemies.

¹³ The people did not turn back to him who struck them, or seek Jehovah of Hosts.

¹² »It will happen when Jehovah has performed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. He will say: I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty appearance.

¹ Jehovah lays the earth waste, annihilates it, disfigures its surface and scatters its inhabitants.

¹ Jehovah lays the earth waste, annihilates it, disfigures its surface and scatters its inhabitants. ² The people will be like the one officiating, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.

² The people will be like the one officiating, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. ³ The earth will be completely uninhabitable and totally plundered. Jehovah has spoken this word.

³ The earth will be completely uninhabitable and totally plundered. Jehovah has spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourns and fades away, the world fades and withers, the exalted people of the earth mourn. ⁵ The inhabitants of the earth pollute the earth. They transgress laws and violate statutes. They break the everlasting covenant.

⁵ The inhabitants of the earth pollute the earth. They transgress laws and violate statutes. They break the everlasting covenant. ⁶ A curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are found guilty. Therefore, those living on the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁶ A curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are found guilty. Therefore, those living on the earth are burned, and few men are left. ⁷ The new wine mourns, the vine decays and the merry-hearted sigh. ⁸ The joyful sound of tambourines ceases. The noise of revelers and the delight of the harp cease. ⁹ They no longer drink wine with a song. The beverage is bitter to its drinkers. ¹⁰ The ruined city lies desolate. The entrance to every house is barred and none may enter. ¹¹ In the streets they cry out for wine. Joy turns to gloom and rejoicing is banished from the earth. ¹² The city is left in ruins; its gate is battered to pieces.

²¹ That day Jehovah will punish the host of heaven on high and the kings of the earth below.

⁶ Jehovah’s sword is covered with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of rams' kidneys. Jehovah will receive a sacrifice in Bozrah, a huge slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷ »‘Some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away! They will become officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.’«

²² »Jacob, you have not prayed to me. Israel, you have grown tired of me.

⁵ »‘»One person will say: »I belong to Jehovah.« Another person will call himself by the name of Jacob. Still another will write on his hand: »Jehovah’s.« And he will take the name Israel.’

¹ This is what Jehovah says: »Where are your mother's divorce papers? Did I give her any to get rid of her? To which of my creditors did I sell you? You were sold because of your sins. I got rid of your mother because of your rebellion.

²³ »I have bound myself with an oath. A word has gone out from my righteous mouth that will not be recalled. Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will swear allegiance.

¹ Listen to this, people of Israel, you that are descended from Judah. You swear by the name of Jehovah and claim to worship the God of Israel. However you do not mean a word you say.

⁹ That is why justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light and we walk in darkness. We hope for brightness but we walk in gloom. ¹⁰ We grope like blind men along a wall. We grope like people without eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were evening. We are like dead people among the living.

¹⁰ We grope like blind men along a wall. We grope like people without eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were evening. We are like dead people among the living. ¹¹ We all growl like bears. We coo like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none. We hope for salvation, but it is far from us. ¹² You are aware of our many rebellious acts. Our sins testify against us. Our rebellious acts are with us. We know our iniquities. ¹³ We rebelled and denied Jehovah. We turned away from our God. We spoke about oppression and revolt. We conceived and uttered lies in our hearts. ¹⁴ Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away. Truth has fallen in the street, and honesty cannot come in. ¹⁵ Truth is missing. Those who turn away from evil become victims. Jehovah sees it, and what he saw displeased him because there is no justice.

²¹ »They will build houses and dwell in them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² »No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. My chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.

⁶ »Listen to the uproar from the city. Listen to the sound from the temple. It is the sound of Jehovah paying back his enemies as they deserve.

² Jehovah (YHWH) spoke his word to Jeremiah. This happened when King Josiah, son of Amon, was in his thirteenth year as king of Judah.

¹³ »My people have done two things wrong: (l) They have abandoned me, the fountain (source) of living waters. They have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Revelation 4:11)

¹⁷ »You have done this to yourself by abandoning Jehovah your God when he led you on his way.

¹⁹ »Your own wickedness will correct you. Your apostasies (unfaithful ways) will punish you! You should know and see how evil and bitter it is for you when you abandon Jehovah your God! You do not respect (reverence) me,« says the Sovereign Lord Jehovah of Hosts.

¹⁰ »Even after all this, Israel's treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart. She was deceitful,« says Jehovah.

² if you take the oath, as Jehovah lives in an honest, fair, and right way, then the nations will be blessed, and in him they will glory.«

⁷ »A lion has come out of its lair. A destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place and is on his way to destroy your land. Your cities will be ruined. No one will live in them. ⁸ »Dress in sackcloth, beat your breasts (mourn), and cry because Jehovah’s burning anger has not turned back from us.

¹⁸ »You brought this on yourself. This is your punishment. It is bitter. It breaks your heart.« ¹⁹ O my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. My heart pounds in side of me. My heart is pounding! I cannot keep quiet because I hear a ram's horn sounding the alarm for war.

¹⁹ O my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. My heart pounds in side of me. My heart is pounding! I cannot keep quiet because I hear a ram's horn sounding the alarm for war. ²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant.

²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant.

²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant. ²¹ How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams' horns?

²³ I see the earth. It is without form and empty. I see the sky. Its lights are gone. ²⁴ I see the mountains. They tremble and the hills sway. ²⁵ I see that there are no people, and every bird has flown away. ²⁶ I see that the fertile land has become a desert. Its cities are torn down because of Jehovah and his burning anger. ²⁷ Jehovah says: »The whole earth will be ruined, although I will not entirely destroy it. ²⁸ »The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black. I have spoken, and I have determined it. I will not change my plans, and I will not turn back!« ²⁹ All the people in the city will flee at the sound of riders and archers. They will go off into the thickets and climb among the rocks. The entire city will be abandoned. No one will live in it.

³¹ I hear a woman in labor. I hear the woman cry with anguish as she gives birth to her first child. My people Zion gasp for breath. They stretch out their hands and say: »How horrible it is for us! My life is exhausted by the presence of murderers!«

⁷ Jehovah asked: Why should I forgive the sins of my people? They have abandoned me and have worshiped gods that are not real. I fed my people until they were full, but they committed adultery and spent their time with prostitutes.

¹⁷ »They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

¹ Flee for safety people of Benjamin. Run from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow a ram’s horn in Tekoa and raise a signal over Beth-haccerem. Evil looks down from the north. There is great destruction.

⁸ »Be warned, O Jerusalem, I will be alienated from you. I will make you desolation, a land not inhabited.« ⁹ Jehovah of Hosts says: »They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel. Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer over the baskets.«

¹² »Their houses, their fields and their wives will be turned over to others. I will stretch out my hand (extend my power) against the inhabitants of the land,« declares Jehovah.

²⁰ Therefore the Lord Jehovah says: »My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn and not be quenched.«

³⁴ »I will cause the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem. The land will become a ruin.«

¹⁶ From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses. At the sound of the neighing of his stallions the whole land quakes. For they come and devour the land and its fullness, the city and its inhabitants.

¹¹ I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. It will be a gathering place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolation, without inhabitant.

¹⁹ A voice of wailing is heard from Zion: »How we are ruined! We are put to great shame for we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.«

²¹ Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces. Death has cut down the children in the streets and the young men in the market places. ²² »‘This is what Jehovah says: »Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field. They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.«’« ²³ This is what Jehovah says: »Do not let wise people brag about their wisdom. Do not let strong people brag about their strength. Do not let rich people brag about their riches.« ²⁴ »If they want to brag, instead let them advocate (glory) (celebrate) that they understand and know me. They should advocate that I, Jehovah, act out of love, righteousness, and justice on the earth. This kind of celebration pleases me,« declares Jehovah.

⁵ »They are like scarecrows in cucumber fields. They cannot speak. They must be carried, for they cannot walk! Do not fear them! For they can do no harm and they can do no good.«

¹⁸ Jehovah says: »I am evicting the inhabitants of the land at this time. I will cause them distress that they may be found.«

⁴ How long will our land be dry and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people. These people say: »God does not see what we are doing.«

¹⁰ »Many foreign rulers have destroyed my vineyard. They trampled down my fields and turned my beautiful land into a desert. ¹¹ »They made it a wasteland. It lies desolate before me. The whole land has become a desert, and no one cares. ¹² »Across the entire desert highlands people have come to plunder. Jehovah has sent war to destroy the entire land. No one can live in peace. ¹³ »My people planted wheat. They gathered weeds! They worked hard and got nothing for it. Because of my fierce anger their crops have failed.«

³ »I will appoint over them four kinds of punishment, declares Jehovah. I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds of the air and animals of the earth to devour and destroy.

⁶ »You left me, declares Jehovah. You turned your back on me. So I will stretch out my hand against you (use my power against you) and destroy you. I am tired of showing compassion to you.

¹³ »Jehovah said to me: ‘I will send enemies to carry away the wealth and treasures of my people. This will punish them for the sins they have committed throughout the land.

⁴ »They will die of lethal diseases. They will not be mourned or buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground and die by sword and famine (war and starvation). Their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.« ⁵ Jehovah says: »Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them. I have withdrawn my peace from this people,« declares Jehovah, »even my loving kindness and compassion.« ⁶ »Both great and small men will die in this land. They will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.

¹⁶ »I am going to send for many fishermen,« says Jehovah, »and they will catch the people of Israel. After that, I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt for them on every mountain and hill and even in the cracks in the rocks. ¹⁷ »I see everything that they do. They cannot hide anything from me. Their wickedness cannot be hidden; I can see it.

²¹ Therefore, give their children over to famine and deliver them up to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death and their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

¹³ »‘The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like Topheth. They burned sacrifices to the heavenly hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the rooftops of all of their houses.’«

⁸ »‘Like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because they are rotten,« says Jehovah, »so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ »‘»I will make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth. They will be a disgrace and an example. They will become something ridiculed and cursed wherever I scatter them. ¹⁰ »‘»I will send wars, famines, and plagues until they disappear from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.«’«

³ »Jehovah continued to speak his word to me for twenty-three years. This covered the time from when Josiah, son of Amon, was in his thirteenth year as king of Judah until today. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁷ »How terrible that day will be! There will be no other day like it. It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob, but they will be rescued from it.«

²⁹ ‘The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in, set this city on fire, and burn it down. They will burn down the houses of people who made me furious by going up to the roofs to burn incense to Baal and to pour out wine offerings to other gods.’

²² »‘I am going to give a command,’ declares Jehovah. ‘I will bring that army back to this city to attack it, capture it, and burn it down. I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one will live there.’«

¹¹ »‘This is what Jehovah says about King Josiah's son Shallum, who succeeded his father as king of Judah and left this place: ‘He will never come back here again. ¹² »‘He will die in the place where they led him captive. He will not see this land again.’ ¹³ »Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness and his upper rooms without justice. Woe to him who uses his neighbor's services without pay and does not give him his wages. ¹⁴ »‘Woe to him who says: ‘I will build myself a roomy house with spacious upper rooms, and cut out its windows. I will panel it with cedar and paint it bright red (vermilion).’ ¹⁵ Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. ¹⁶ He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy. Then it was well. »Is that not what it means to know me?« Says Jehovah. ¹⁷ »Your eyes and your heart are intent only upon your own dishonest gain. You are shedding innocent blood and on practicing oppression and extortion.« ¹⁸ Therefore Jehovah tells us about Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: »They will not cry for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ And, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not mourn him: ‘Alas for the master!’ And, »Alas for his splendor!« ¹⁹ He will be buried with a donkey's burial. He will be dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁴ »‘As I live,’ says Jehovah, ‘even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, yet I would pull you off. ²⁵ »As I live,« says Jehovah, »I will hand you over to those who want to kill you, those you fear, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians. ²⁶ »I will throw you and your mother into another land. You were not born there, but you will die there. ²⁷ »You will want to return to this land, but you will not be allowed to come home. ²⁸ »This Jehoiakin is like a rejected and broken pot that no one wants. Is that why he and his descendants will be thrown out and cast into another land they have never heard of? ²⁹ »O land, land, land! Hear the word of Jehovah. ³⁰ »This is what Jehovah says: ‘Write this about Jehoiakin: »He will be childless. He will not prosper in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed him as king. They will not sit on David's throne and rule Judah again.«’«

³⁴ »Mourn, you shepherds, and cry. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. The time has come for you to be slaughtered. The time has come for you to be scattered, and you will break like fine pottery.

³⁶ »The shepherds are crying and the leaders of the flock are mourning because Jehovah is stripping their pasture.

²⁹ »Say about King Jehoiakim of Judah: ‘This is what Jehovah says: You burned this scroll, and you asked Jeremiah: »Why did you write that the king of Babylon would certainly come to destroy this land and take away people and animals?«’«

² On the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year as king, the city walls were broken through.

⁶ At Riblah he put Zedekiah's sons to death while Zedekiah was looking on, and he also had the officials of Judah executed. ⁷ After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains to be taken to Babylon.

¹⁰ That day belongs to Jehovah of Hosts. It is a day of vengeance when he will take revenge on his enemies. His sword will devour until it has had enough, and it will drink their blood until it is full. The Almighty Jehovah of Hosts will offer them as sacrifices in the north by the Euphrates River.

¹¹ Jehovah said: »Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavor has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever.

¹³ It is because of the sins of her prophets and the evil doing of her priests. They have drained the blood of the upright out from her. ¹⁴ They are wandering like blind men in the streets. They are polluted with blood. Men may not touch their robes.

⁴¹ »The towns of Moab will be captured. The strong walled cities will be defeated. Then Moab’s warriors will be frightened like a woman who is giving birth.’«

⁸ Great is the sin of Jerusalem! For this cause she has become an unclean thing. Those who gave her honor are looking down on her. They see her shame. Now truly, sighing out grief, she turns back.

¹⁴ »He keeps watch on my sins. They are joined together by his hand, they have come on to my neck; he makes my strength give way. Jehovah gives me into the hands of those against whom I have no power.

¹⁸ »Jehovah is upright. I have rebelled against him. Listen all you people and see my pain. My virgins and my young men are taken away as prisoners.

²¹ Both young and old lie dead in the streets. Enemy swords kill young men and women. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.

¹⁵ »Get away! Unclean!« They were cried out to them, »Away! Away! Let no one touch.« They went away in flight and wandering, men said among the nations, »There is no further resting-place for them.«

¹⁶ The crown has been taken from our head. Sorrow is ours, for we are sinners. ¹⁷ Because of this our hearts are feeble. For these things our eyes are dark.

³ The word of Jehovah (YHWH) spoke to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi. It was in Babylon by the Chebar River. The power of Jehovah came upon him.

²⁰ »If righteous people turn from living the right way and do wrong, I will make them stumble and they will die. If you do not warn them, they will die because of their sin. The right things they did will not be remembered. I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

⁶ ‘»The end has come! The end has come! It has become active against you. It has come! ⁷ ‘»Doom has come upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near. There is panic, not joy, upon the mountains.

⁷ ‘»Doom has come upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near. There is panic, not joy, upon the mountains.

¹⁰ ‘»The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth. The rod has budded, and arrogance has blossomed!

¹² ‘»The time is coming. The day is near. Buyers will not rejoice, and sellers will not mourn, because my fury will be against the whole crowd.

¹⁹ ‘»They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage (like an abhorrent thing), because neither silver nor gold can save them when Jehovah pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin.

²¹ ‘»I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, and they will defile it.

³ It stretched out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair on my head. In these visions from God, the Spirit carried me between heaven and earth. He took me in vision to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. ⁴ There I saw the glory of Israel's God as I did in the vision that I saw in the valley. ⁵ God said to me: »Son of man, look toward the north.« So I looked toward the north. There in the entrance to the north gate beside the altar, I saw the idol that provokes jealousy and stirs up God's anger.

¹² Then he said: »Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say: ‘Jehovah does not see us! Jehovah has forsaken the land!’«

⁹ He answered me: »The wickedness of the nations of Israel and Judah is terrible! The land is filled with murder, and the city is filled with wrongdoing. They think that Jehovah has abandoned the land and that he does not see.

²³ »Therefore say to them: ‘The Lord Jehovah says: ‘I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel. Tell them: ‘The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision.’

³ »Son of man, these people are devoted to their idols. They allow themselves to sin. Should they be allowed to ask me for anything? ⁴ »Speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what Jehovah says: Suppose an Israelite is devoted to idols and allows himself to sin. Suppose he goes to a prophet to ask for my help. I, Jehovah, will give that Israelite an answer, the answer that his many idolaters deserve. ⁵ »‘I will do this to recapture the hearts of the nation of Israel. They have deserted me because of their disgusting idols.’« ⁶ »Therefore tell the nation of Israel: This is what the Lord Jehovah says: »Change the way you think and act! (Repent!) Turn away from your idols, and do not return to any of your disgusting things. ⁷ ‘»Suppose an Israelite or a foreigner who lives in Israel deserts me by devoting himself to idols and by allowing himself to sin. If he goes to a prophet to ask for my help, I, Jehovah, will give him an answer.

¹³ »Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful to me. I will stretch out my hand (use my power) against it, cut off its food supply, send a famine to it, and destroy its people and animals.« ¹⁴ ‘»Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in that country, they would, by their righteousness, rescue only themselves,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.« ¹⁵ ‘»If I send wild animals through that country and they make it childless and turn it into such a wasteland that no one travels through it because of the animals. ¹⁶ ‘»As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, ‘not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could rescue their own sons or daughters. They could rescue only themselves and the country would become a wasteland.’« ¹⁷ ‘»What if I bring a war against that country by saying I will let a war go throughout this country. And then I destroy the people and the animals in it. ¹⁸ ‘»As I am alive, declares the Lord Jehovah, not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could rescue their sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.’« ¹⁹ ‘»Let us say I send a plague into that country or pour out my fury on it by killing people and destroying animals. ²⁰ As I am alive, declares the Lord Jehovah, not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could, by their righteousness, rescue their sons or daughters. They could rescue only themselves.«’ ²¹ ‘»This is what the Lord Jehovah says: ‘I will surely send four terrible punishments against Jerusalem. I will send wars, famines, wild animals, and plagues. They will destroy people and animals.

⁶ »Therefore, the Lord Jehovah says: ‘Just like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given as fuel for the fire, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will set my face against them (turn against them). Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them.’« ⁸ ‘»I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.«

³⁸ »I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged. I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

¹² ‘»Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore strike your thigh.

²⁵ ‘»There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives. They have taken treasure and precious things. They have made many widows in the midst of her. ²⁶ ‘»Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the profane. They have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean. They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ²⁷ ‘»Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. ²⁸ ‘»Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them. They see false visions and divine lies for them. They say: »This is what the Lord Jehovah says, when Jehovah has not spoken.« ²⁹ ‘»The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.’ ³⁰ ‘»I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹ ‘»Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them! I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath (intense anger). / Their way I have brought upon their heads,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.«

³¹ ‘»Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them! I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath (intense anger). / Their way I have brought upon their heads,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.«

³ »‘The day is near. The Day of Jehovah is near. It will be a gloomy day, a time of trouble for the nations.

²⁷ »Tell them: ‘This is what the Lord Jehovah says: »As I am alive, whoever is in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Whoever is in the open field will become food for wild animals. Whoever is in fortified places and caves will die from plagues. ²⁸ »I will turn the land into a barren wasteland. People will no longer brag about its power. The mountains of Israel will become so ruined that no one will travel through them. ²⁹ »Then people will know that I am Jehovah, when I make the land a barren wasteland. This is because of all the disgusting things that they have done.«’

⁵ ‘»‘The Lord Jehovah says: ‘Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated my land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn, to drive it out for a prey.’«’ ⁶ »Prophesy about Israel and tell the mountains and hills and the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Lord Jehovah says: »I am speaking in my anger and fury because you have been insulted by the nations.

¹⁷ »As for you, son of man, the Lord Jehovah says: ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: »Assemble and come, gather from every side to my sacrifice that I am going to sacrifice for you. It is a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ »‘You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.«’ ¹⁹ »‘You will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk; from my sacrifice I have sacrificed for you.«’ ²⁰ »‘You will be glutted at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.

¹² »‘I have sworn against them because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord Jehovah. ‘They will bear the punishment for their iniquity.’

¹ The word of Jehovah (YHWH) that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

³ Therefore the land will mourn. All the inhabitants are weak. The beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea will also perish.

¹⁵ Though you, Israel, play the harlot, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal, neither go to Bethaven, nor swear, »As Jehovah lives.«

¹⁵ Though you, Israel, play the harlot, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal, neither go to Bethaven, nor swear, »As Jehovah lives.« ¹⁶ For Israel behaved stubbornly like a stubborn heifer. Will Jehovah now feed them as a lamb in a large place.

⁸ »Blow the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Bethaven behind you, O Benjamin.

⁷ »They are all as hot as an oven. They consume their rulers like a fire. All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.

¹ »Sound the alarm on the trumpet. The enemy swoops down on Jehovah’s Temple like an eagle. The people of Israel have rejected my covenant promise and rebelled against my Law.

⁶ »Even if they escape without being destroyed, Egypt will capture them and Memphis will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures. Thorns will grow over their tents.

⁵ »The people who live in the city of Samaria will be afraid and will mourn the loss of the gold bull at Bethaven. They and the priests who serve the idol will weep over it. They will wail when it is stripped of its golden splendor.

¹ Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of Jehovah comes. It is near!

¹ Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of Jehovah comes. It is near! ² »It is a day of darkness and gloom! It is a day of clouds and thick darkness! The dawn spreads upon the mountains. This great and mighty people have never seen anything like this. Nor will it be like this again even to the years of many generations.

² »It is a day of darkness and gloom! It is a day of clouds and thick darkness! The dawn spreads upon the mountains. This great and mighty people have never seen anything like this. Nor will it be like this again even to the years of many generations.

¹¹ »Jehovah speaks before his army. His camp is very great! He is strong that executes his word. The Day of Jehovah is great and very terrible! Who can endure it?«

³¹ »The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible (awesome) Day of Jehovah comes!

¹⁶ »Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.

⁶ »Will the trumpet be blown in a city and the people not be afraid? Will disaster happen to a city and Jehovah not cause it?

¹⁰ »Those who store up violence and robbery in their dwellings do not know how to do what is right,« declared Jehovah.

¹⁰ »I sent a plague among you just as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses. I made the stench of your camp come up even into your nostrils and yet you have not returned to me,« said Jehovah.

¹¹ You impose unfair rent on the poor and defraud a tribute of grain from them. You haave built houses of hewn stone yet you will not live in them. You planted pleasant vineyards, but you will not drink the wine from them.

¹⁸ »Woe to you who desire the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah mean to you? It is darkness, and not light. ¹⁹ »Like a man who ran from a lion, and a bear met him! So he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. ²⁰ »Will the day of Jehovah be darkness with no light? Will it be very dark, and no brightness in it?

²⁶ »You have carried the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

¹ »Those who are at ease in Zion and are secure in the mountain of Samaria will have trouble. You are the notable men of the foremost nations to whom the house of Israel comes!

¹⁰ »When a man's uncle takes the body to be burned and brings the bones out of the house he will say to the innermost parts of the house: ‘Is there yet any one here?’ And he will say, ‘No.’ Then he will say: ‘Hold your peace. We may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.’

² He said: »Amos, what do you see?« And I said, »A basket of summer fruit.« Then Jehovah said to me: »The end has come to my people Israel. I will spare them no longer. ³ »The songs of the Temple will be weeping in that day,« said the Lord Jehovah: »the dead bodies shall be many. They will observe silence in every place.

¹ I saw Jehovah standing beside the altar. He said: »Strike the capitals that the thresholds may shake! Break them in pieces on the head of all of them and I will slay the last of them with the sword. Not one of them will get away. Not one of them will escape! ² »Though they dig into the grave my hand will take them. Though they climb to heaven I will bring them down. ³ »Though they hide on top of Mount Carmel I will search and find them and take them from there. Though they hide from my sight on the bottom of the sea I will command the serpent to bite them.

⁵ »We have sinned. We have dealt perversely. We have acted wickedly and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances. ⁶ »We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ »O Jehovah, righteousness belongs to you! Shame belongs to us this day! To the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. ⁸ »O Jehovah, to us belongs shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. ⁹ »To Jehovah our God belong mercies and forgiveness. We have rebelled against him. ¹⁰ »We have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. ¹¹ »Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law and turned aside, that they should not obey your voice. Therefore the curse has been poured out upon us. It is the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God. We have sinned against you. ¹² »He confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who ruled us. He brought a great evil on us. Nothing under heaven has been done like what was done to Jerusalem. ¹³ »As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. Yet we have not earnestly requested the favor of Jehovah our God. We should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth. ¹⁴ »Therefore Jehovah watched over the evil and brought it upon us. Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works. We have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵ »And now, O Jehovah our God, you brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made a name for yourself that day. We have sinned! We have done wickedly. ¹⁶ »O Jehovah, according to all your righteousness, let your anger, I pray you, be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those who are round about us. ¹⁷ »Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for Jehovah’s sake. ¹⁸ »O my God, incline your ear, and hear! Open your eyes, and behold our desolations and the city that is called by your name. We do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous merits, but according to your many mercies. ¹⁹ »O Jehovah, hear; O Jehovah, forgive; O Jehovah, pay attention and act! Do not delay for your own sake, O my God! Because your city and your people are called by your name.«

⁷ »My people are determined to turn (apostatize) from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.

⁷ Jehovah says: »The merchants use dishonest scales. They love to cheat people. ⁸ »The people of Ephraim say: We are rich. We have made a fortune. With all this wealth, no one will find us guilty of any sin.

³ »Assyria will not save us and we will not ride on horses. We will not say again: Our god, to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.

⁸ »O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress and fruit comes from me.«

⁵ »Awake, you drunkards, and weep! Wail you drinkers of wine. The sweet wine is removed from your mouth.

¹³ »Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth you ministers of my God! The meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from the House of your God.

¹⁵ »Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is near! Destruction will come from the Almighty!

⁶ »How is Esau searched, his hidden treasures sought?

⁹ Please hear this you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. You who abhor justice, and pervert honesty! ¹⁰ They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with immorality. ¹¹ The leaders judge for a bribe, and the priests teach for wages! The prophets predict for money yet they rely on Jehovah when they say: »Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? No evil will come upon us.« ¹² It is your fault that Zion will be plowed like a field. Jerusalem will become heaps of ruin, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

¹² It is your fault that Zion will be plowed like a field. Jerusalem will become heaps of ruin, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

¹¹ »I will destroy the cities of your land, and I will throw down all your strongholds. ¹² »I will remove witchcrafts from your hand. You will have no more magic practitioners. ¹³ »I will remove your graven images and your sacred pillars from you. You will no longer worship the work of your hands.

¹³ »I will remove your graven images and your sacred pillars from you. You will no longer worship the work of your hands. ¹⁴ »I will remove your (godess) Astarte from your midst. I will destroy your cities.

¹⁵ »You will sow and not reap. You will tread the olives, but will not be anointed with oil! And you will grow the grapes but you will not drink the wine.

¹³ The earth will become desolate because of the inhabitants and the fruit of their deeds.

⁶ »Behold, I bring the Chaldeans to power, that bitter and impetuous nation. They march through the expanse of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. ⁷ »They are feared and dreaded. Their justice and dignity are of their own being. ⁸ »Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are fiercer than the evening wolves. Their horsemen proudly press on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle in a hurry to eat. ⁹ »They all come for violence. Their crowds look straight ahead and gather prisoners like the sand. ¹⁰ »They scoff at kings, and princes are derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build earthen ramps and capture them.

²⁰ »Jehovah is in his Holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.«

⁶ He stood and measured the earth. He looked and agitated the nations. The everlasting mountains were shattered! The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are eternal!

² »I will destroy (take away) (remove) (consume) everything on the face of the earth!« declared Jehovah. (Zephaniah 2:3) ³ »I will terminate both man and beast. I will put an end to the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea. I will eliminate the sins that make people fall, together with the sinners. I will remove people from the face of the earth,« declared Jehovah.

⁷ Be silent before the Sovereign Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near! Jehovah has prepared a sacrifice. He has sanctified His guests.

⁹ »I will punish all who worship false gods and who steal and kill in order to fill their master's house with violence.« ¹⁰ »On that day,« said Jehovah, »you will hear the sound of crying at the Fish Gate in Jerusalem. You will hear wailing in the newer part of the city and a loud crash from the hills. ¹¹ »Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! The people of Canaan have perished. Those wealthy with silver will be destroyed.

¹⁴ »The great Day of Jehovah is near. It is near and coming quickly. Listen! The mighty man will cry out bitterly on the Day of Jehovah. ¹⁵ »That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish. That day will be a day of trouble, devastation and desolation! It will be a day of darkness and gloom. Indeed that day will be a day of clouds and overcast skies.

¹⁸ »Their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the Day of Jehovah’s anger (rage) (wrath). He will devour all the nations by the fire of his zeal! He will exterminate all the inhabitants of the earth!«

² Before the decree takes effect. Before the day passes like the chaff. Before the fierce anger of Jehovah comes upon you. Yes, before the Day of Jehovah's anger comes upon you.

⁸ »Wait for me,« said Jehovah, »until the day that I rise up as a witness. I am determined to gather the nations. I will assemble the kingdoms to pour out upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger! All the earth will be devoured with the fire of my zeal.

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah, for he is aroused out of his holy dwelling.

² »Wail, You fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the majestic ones are destroyed. Wail you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down. ³ »Listen to the wailing of the shepherds! Their glory is destroyed! Listen to the roaring of young lions! The pride of the Jordan is laid waste.«

² Jehovah of Hosts declared: »I will remove the names of the idols from the land! They will no longer be remembered. I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to leave the land.

¹⁴ »You have said: ‘There is no value to serve God. What is the use of doing what he says or of trying to show Jehovah of Hosts that we are sorry for what we have done?’ ¹⁵ »We call arrogant people happy. Evil people test God’s patience with their wicked deeds. They not only get away with it, they also prosper.«

¹ Jehovah of Hosts proclaims: »The day is coming when all arrogant and evil people will burn like stubble. On that day they will burn up and there will be nothing left of them, either root or bough.

⁵ »Behold! I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible Day of Jehovah comes.

²⁴ »You cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other. You will be loyal to one master and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (wealth) (material possessions).

¹⁴ »Let them be. They are blind guides. If a blind man guides another blind man, they will fall in a hole together.«

⁴ »Again he sent out other servants with orders to say to the guests, ‘I have prepared my feast. Oxen and fat livestock are butchered and everything is ready, so come to the feast.’

³⁹ »I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in the name of Jehovah.’« (Psalm 118:26)

²⁶ »What will a man profit, if he gains the whole world, and gives up his life? What will a man give in exchange for his life?

¹⁹ »I will say to my self: ‘You have many possessions saved for many years. Take it easy and eat, drink and be merry.’ ²⁰ »But God said to him: ‘You fool this night you will give up your life. Then who will have all these things you accumulated?’ ²¹ »He who lays up (earthly) treasure for himself is not rich toward God.«

²² »The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man died and was buried. ²³ »He was in great torment in the grave (hades). He looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.

¹⁶ Jesus said: »There was a man who gave a great feast to which he invited many people. ¹⁷ »He sent his servant to tell the guests that everything is ready.

²² »These are days of vengeance! All things written will be fulfilled. ²³ »Woe to those who are pregnant and those who nurse a child in those days! There will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people.

¹⁶ He told those who sold doves: »Take these things away. Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise.«

⁴⁰ Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him: »Are we also blind?« ⁴¹ Jesus replied: »If you were blind you would have no sin. But you say we see so your sin remains.«

²⁰ »The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable (awesome) Day of Jehovah arrives. (Joel 2:31)

¹⁹ When her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

⁵ Thanks to your stubborn and unrepentant heart, you store up wrath for yourself, in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

¹¹ »There is no one who has insight. No one seeks God!

²⁰ Yes, but you, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: »Why have you made me this way?« (Isaiah 45:9)

⁷ What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks. The chosen ones have obtained it, and the rest were blinded (rendered stupid) (hardened) (made insensitive).

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this secret, lest you should be wise in your own conceits (estimation). Blindness has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations comes in.

¹⁹ We know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law. Every mouth may be stopped and the entire world may become liable to God for punishment.

¹¹ It is written: As I live, says Jehovah, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will acknowledge (confess to) Jehovah. (Isaiah 45:23)

⁴ The god of this age (world) (religious, social, political, and economic arrangement) has blinded the minds of unbelievers that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine on them.

²² Do we provoke Jehovah to rivalry (indignation) (anger)? Are we stronger than he?

⁵ Let your gentleness (mildness) (moderation) be known to all men for the Lord is near.

¹² Give thanks to the Father, who made us partakers of the inheritance of the holy ones in the light.

¹⁶ For the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹⁶ God inspired all Scripture! It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. (Greek: theopneustos: God-breathed)

³ How shall we escape, if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first presented by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

³⁸ »My righteous people will live by faith. If any of them turn back, I will not be pleased with them.« ³⁹ We are not people who turn back and are destroyed. Instead, we have faith and are saved.

²⁶ His voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised: »I will once more shake not only the earth but also heaven.«

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.

⁹ Do not complain (utter a deep sigh) against one another, that you not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door.

⁹ For he who lacks these qualities is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.

¹⁹ We have the word of prophecy made sure (steadfast) (firm)! You do well that you pay attention [to God’s Word] as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the daystar rises, in your hearts.

³ They speak evil words about you because of their extreme greed. They will exploit you with false evil words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle. Their destruction will not delay.

¹⁸ For, uttering arrogant words of vanity, they entice in the desires (lusts) of the flesh, by sensuality (lasciviousness), those who are just escaping from the ones who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they are bondservants of corruption. A man is brought into bondage by one and enslaved by another. ²⁰ After they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled and overcome; the last state is worse with them than the first. ²¹ For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² It happened to them according to the true proverb: »The dog returns to his own vomit, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.«

⁴ Saying, »Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.«

⁷ According to the same word, the heavens that now are, and the earth, are reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹⁰ The day of Jehovah will come as a thief. The heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements shall be dissolved with intense heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up (destroyed). (Joel 2:31) (Zephaniah 1:14) ¹¹ Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved (destroyed), what manner of persons should you be in all holy living and godliness? ¹² Look for and earnestly desire the coming presence of the »Day of Jehovah.« (Zephaniah 1:14) The heavens being on fire will be dissolved (destroyed), and the elements will melt with intense heat!

¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he goes because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹⁴ »'I have a few things against you: you have people there who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to present a snare to the sons of Israel, to eat of idol sacrifices and commit fornication.

²³ »'I will kill her children with deadly plague. Then all the congregations will know that I am the one who searches hearts and minds. I will reward each of you for what you have done.

¹⁷ »'You say, «I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing." You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

¹⁵ The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the military commanders, and the mighty men, and every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ They said to the mountains and rocks: »Fall on us, and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: ¹⁷ »For the great day of his wrath has come; and who will be able to stand?«

¹⁷ »For the great day of his wrath has come; and who will be able to stand?«

¹¹ »The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her. For no man buys their merchandise any more. ¹² »The merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones, and of pearls, fine linen, purple and silk, scarlet, and everything in scented wood, all manner of ivory and all manner of most precious wood, of brass and iron and marble, ¹³ »cinnamon, odors and ointments, frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour, wheat, beasts, and sheep and horses, chariots and slaves and humans ¹⁴ »The fruits that you desired have departed from you. All things that were dainty and wonderful have departed from you. You will find them no more at all. ¹⁵ »The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, will stand far off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. ¹⁶ »They will say: 'Woe, woe to the great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! ¹⁷ »'In one hour these great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood far off, ¹⁸ »and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying: 'What city is like this great city!'

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice to all the fowls that fly in midheaven: »Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God; ¹⁸ »that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military commanders, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.«