Canon of Truth
Hebrew Seventh Order Memories
Fractured Paradise: A Novel In Progress
by
Oliver Smith
OliverSmith@CyberPoet.com
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Seventh Order Recitation -
Ezekiel
It occurred in the thirtieth year, fourth month, on the
fifth day of the month, when I was among captives by the river of
Chebar, that the heavens opened and I saw visions from Nerth.
On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's
captivity, The word of the Nerth came to Ezekiel the priest,
the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar;
the hand of the Nerth was there upon him.
I watched a
whirlwind come out of the north, a great cloud, and a bright, amber fire
infolding itself.
The likeness of four living creatures came from it.
They had the likeness of a man with four faces and four wings.
Their feet were
straight; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's
foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they
had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they
four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to
another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight
forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of
a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the
face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an
eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward;
two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered
their bodies. 12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the
spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. 13 As
for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like
burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and
down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of
the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran and
returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 15 Now as I beheld
the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living
creatures, with his four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and
their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one
likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in
the middle of a wheel. 17 When they went, they went upon their four
sides: and they turned not when they went. 18 As for their rings, they
were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes
round about them four. 19 And when the living creatures went, the
wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from
the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20 Whithersoever the spirit was
to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were
lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was
in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood,
these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels
were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature
was in the wheels. 22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads
of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal,
stretched forth over their heads above. 23 And under the firmament were
their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two,
which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on
that side, their bodies. 24 And when they went, I heard the noise of
their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the
Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they
stood, they let down their wings. 25 And there was a voice from the
firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down
their wings. 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was
the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and
upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a
man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the
appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his
loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward,
I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round
about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day
of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was
the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw
it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. And he
said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto
thee. 2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set
me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. 3 And he said
unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a
rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers
have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4 For they are
impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5 And they, whether they
will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious
house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6 And
thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their
words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among
scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or
whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou
rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I
give thee. 9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and,
lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me; and it
was written within and without: and there was written therein
lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover he said unto me, Son of
man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house
of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy
bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 4 And he said unto me, Son of man,
go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto
them. 5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an
hard language, but to the house of Israel; 6 Not to many people of a
strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not
understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened
unto thee. 7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for
they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent
and hardhearted. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their
faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 As an adamant
harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be
dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10 Moreover
he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee
receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. 11 And go, get thee
to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak
unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will
hear, or whether they will forbear. 12 Then the spirit took me up, and
I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the
glory of the LORD from his place. 13 I heard also the noise of the
wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise
of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14 So
the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in
the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15
Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the
river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there
astonished among them seven days. 16 And it came to pass at the end of
seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17 Son of
man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore
hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say
unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not
warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save
his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood
will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in
his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a
righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity,
and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast
not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness
which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I
require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man,
that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live,
because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. 22 And the
hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go
forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory
of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of
Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24 Then the spirit entered into me, and
set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut
thyself within thine house.
25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and
shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26 And
I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt
be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious
house. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him
hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a
rebellious house. Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it
before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2 And lay
siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against
it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it
round about. 3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for
a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it,
and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This
shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 4 Lie thou also upon thy left
side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to
the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear
their iniquity. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their
iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety
days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And
when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou
shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have
appointed thee each day for a year. 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face
toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and
thou shalt prophesy against it. 8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon
thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou
hast ended the days of thy siege. 9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and
barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them
in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of
the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety
days shalt thou eat thereof. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall
be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat
it. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an
hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 12 And thou shalt eat it as
barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man,
in their sight. 13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of
Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive
them. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been
polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that
which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there
abominable flesh into my mouth. 15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have
given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread
therewith. 16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will
break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by
weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with
astonishment: 17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied
one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. And thou, son of
man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it
to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to
weigh, and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in
the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and
thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a
third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword
after them. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind
them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the
midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire
come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD;
This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and
countries that are round about her. 6 And she hath changed my judgments
into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the
countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments
and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7 Therefore thus saith
the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are
round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept
my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the
nations that are round about you; 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the
midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do in thee that
which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like,
because of all thine abominations. 10 Therefore the fathers shall eat
the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers;
and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee
will I scatter into all the winds. 11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the
Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy
detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I
also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have
any pity. 12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and
with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third
part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a
third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to
rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the
LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in
them. 14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the
nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. 15
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall
execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes.
I the LORD have spoken it. 16 When I shall send upon them the evil
arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I
will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and
will break your staff of bread: 17 So will I send upon you famine and
evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood
shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the
LORD have spoken it. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2
Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy
against them, 3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the
Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills,
to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a
sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 And your altars
shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast
down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead
carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will
scatter your bones round about your altars. 6 In all your
dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places
shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made
desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may
be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 And the slain shall
fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 8 Yet
will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the
sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the
countries. 9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the
nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken
with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their
eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe
themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their
abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I
have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 11 Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and
say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for
they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12
He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near
shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall
die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. 13 Then
shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among
their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the
tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every
thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their
idols. 14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land
desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all
their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD. Moreover the
word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Also, thou son of man, thus
saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come
upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now is the end come upon thee, and
I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy
ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. 4 And mine
eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will
recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the
midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 5 Thus saith the
Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 6 An end is come, the
end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 7 The morning is
come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the
day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. 8
Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine
anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will
recompense thee for all thine abominations. 9 And mine eye shall not
spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to
thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye
shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth. 10 Behold the day, behold,
it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride
hath budded. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of
them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs:
neither shall there be wailing for them. 12 The time is come, the day
draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for
wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 13 For the seller shall not
return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the
vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return;
neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 14
They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to
the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 15 The
sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is
in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city,
famine and pestilence shall devour him. 16 But they that escape of them
shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys,
all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be
feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also gird
themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall
be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. 19 They shall
cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:
their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the
day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls,
neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their
iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty:
but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable
things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. 21 And I will
give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked
of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. 22 My face will I
turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the
robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. 23 Make a chain: for the
land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24
Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess
their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and
their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction cometh; and they
shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon
mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a
vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and
counsel from the ancients. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince
shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the
land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and
according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that
I am the LORD. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth
month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the
elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there
upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the
appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even
upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine
head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and
brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner
gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of
jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to
the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way
toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north,
and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in
the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do?
even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here,
that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again,
and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold
a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had
digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that
they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and
abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed
upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house
of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan,
with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense
went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients
of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his
imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken
the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see
greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which
was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee
yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and,
behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and
the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the
temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they
worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a
light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations
which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence,
and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch
to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud
voice, yet will I not hear them. He cried also in mine ears with a loud
voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near,
even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which
lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand;
and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn
by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub,
whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the
man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through
the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men
that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the
midst thereof.
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through
the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and
women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my
sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the
house.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the
slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left,
that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou
destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon
Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah
is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of
perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the
LORD seeth not.
10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have
pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by
his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast
commanded me. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was
above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a
sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between
the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of
fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he
went in in my sight.
3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man
went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over
the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud,
and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory.
5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer
court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
6 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with
linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the
cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.
7 And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims
unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put
it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and
went out.
8 And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under
their wings.
9 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel
by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance
of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a
wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.
11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as
they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it;
they turned not as they went.
12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their
wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels
that they four had.
13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.
14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a
cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the
face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I
saw by the river of Chebar.
16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the
cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same
wheels also turned not from beside them.
17 When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these
lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in
them.
18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the
house, and stood over the cherubims.
19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the
earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside
them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD'S
house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by
the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the
likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by
the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every
one straight forward. Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me
unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and
behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw
Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of
the people.
2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise
mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the
caldron, and we be the flesh.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak;
Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know
the things that come into your mind, every one of them.
6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the
streets thereof with the slain.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in
the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but
I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.
8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith
the Lord GOD.
9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into
the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of
Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh
in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:
12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my
statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the
manners of the heathen that are round about you.
13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of
Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud
voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant
of Israel?
14 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred,
and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants
of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land
given in possession.
16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them
far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the
countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries
where they shall come.
17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from
the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been
scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the
detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give
them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do
them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their
detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way
upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside
them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and
stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the
Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision
that I had seen went up from me.
25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD
had shewed me. The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which
have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not:
for they are a rebellious house.
3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and
remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to
another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they
be a rebellious house.
4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff
for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they
that go forth into captivity.
5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it
forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the
ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.
7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as
stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with
mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my
shoulder in their sight.
8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said
unto thee, What doest thou?
10 Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth
the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among
them.
11 Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto
them: they shall remove and go into captivity.
12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in
the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to
carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground
with his eyes.
13 My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my
snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans;
yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help
him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them
among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.
16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine,
and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations
among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the
LORD.
17 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with
trembling and with carefulness;
19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat
their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment,
that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the
violence of all them that dwell therein.
20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land
shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
21 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
22 Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel,
saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this
proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel;
but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every
vision.
24 For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination
within the house of Israel.
25 For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak
shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O
rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the
Lord GOD.
26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that
he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that
are far off.
28 Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none
of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken
shall be done, saith the Lord GOD. And the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy,
and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye
the word of the LORD;
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow
their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the
house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith:
and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that
they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying
divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not
spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and
seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that
divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither
shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither
shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am
the Lord GOD.
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace;
and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed
it with untempered morter:
11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall
fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones,
shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is
the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy
wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine
anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered
morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof
shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the
midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that
have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall
is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem,
and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith
the Lord GOD.
17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy
people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou
against them,
18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows
to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to
hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the
souls alive that come unto you?
19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and
for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save
the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that
hear your lies?
20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your
pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will
tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls
that ye hunt to make them fly.
21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your
hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom
I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he
should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I
will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am
the LORD. Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat
before me.
2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put
the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be
enquired of at all by them?
4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his
heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face,
and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh
according to the multitude of his idols;
5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they
are all estranged from me through their idols.
6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces
from all your abominations.
7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that
sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up
his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity
before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning
me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and
a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.
9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the
LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon
him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment
of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto
him;
11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be
polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be
my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
12 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing
grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break
the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will
cut off man and beast from it:
14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they
should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the
Lord GOD.
15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil
it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the
beasts:
16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD,
they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be
delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the
land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD,
they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be
delivered themselves.
19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon
it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord
GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but
deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore
judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome
beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought
forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you,
and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted
concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning
all that I have brought upon it.
23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings:
and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have
done in it, saith the Lord GOD. And the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a
branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of
it to hang any vessel thereon?
4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both
the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less
shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and
it is burned?
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees
of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give
the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire,
and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the
LORD, when I set my face against them.
8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a
trespass, saith the Lord GOD. Again the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy
mother an Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not
salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have
compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the
lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood,
I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto
thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments:
thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast
naked and bare.
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy
nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with
thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood
from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers'
skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with
silk.
11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy
hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a
beautiful crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of
fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour,
and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst
prosper into a kingdom.
14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it
was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the
Lord GOD.
15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot
because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one
that passed by; his it was.
16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places
with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things
shall not come, neither shall it be so.
17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver,
which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst
commit whoredom with them,
18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou
hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey,
wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet
savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured.
Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them
to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not
remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and
wast polluted in thy blood.
23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee!
saith the Lord GOD;)
24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made
thee an high place in every street.
25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast
made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one
that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy
neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to
provoke me to anger.
27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have
diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of
them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are
ashamed of thy lewd way.
28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou
wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet
couldest not be satisfied.
29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan
unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all
these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way,
and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an
harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers
instead of her husband!
33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for
thy whoredom.
34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms,
whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou
givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art
contrary.
35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and
thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and
with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy
children, which thou didst give unto them;
37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast
taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that
thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and
will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy
nakedness.
38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood
are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down
thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall
strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and
leave thee naked and bare.
40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall
stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
41 And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments
upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease
from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall
depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast
fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will
recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt
not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against
thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her
children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their
husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your
father an Amorite.
46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell
at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right
hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their
abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast
corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she
nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters,
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.
51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast
multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy
sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for
thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are
more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy
shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and
her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then
will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in
all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their
former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their
former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former
estate.
56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of
thy pride,
57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach
of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the
daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.
58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.
59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast
done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of
thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt
receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them
unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that
I am the LORD:
63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy
mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for
all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. And the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of
Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings,
longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto
Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land
of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful
field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose
branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it
became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many
feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and
shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the
furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring
forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly
vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not
pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it
wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without
great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly
wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows
where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean?
tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath
taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him
to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and
hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up,
but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt,
that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper?
shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant,
and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king
dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant
he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make
for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut
off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he
had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not
escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that
he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I
recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there
for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword,
and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall
know that I the LORD have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of
the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his
young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and
eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it
shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and
under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the
branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have
brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up
the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have
spoken and have done it. The word of the LORD came unto me again,
saying,
2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth
are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to
use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the
soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his
neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
7 And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his
pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the
hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
8 He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any
increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed
true judgment between man and man,
9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal
truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
10 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that
doeth the like to any one of these things,
11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the
mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath
not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath
committed abomination,
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then
live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall
surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which
he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his
neighbour's wife,
16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither
hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and
hath covered the naked with a garment,
17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received
usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my
statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall
surely live.
18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother
by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even
he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?
When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept
all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of
the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be
mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall
live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the
Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that
the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath
done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed,
and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of
Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath
done shall he die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he
hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save
his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions
that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O
house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according
to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all
your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have
transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will
ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the
Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Moreover take thou up
a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she
nourished her whelps among young lions.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it
learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they
brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she
took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and
learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities;
and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his
roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces,
and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of
Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be
heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she
was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and
her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in
her height with the multitude of her branches.
12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and
the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and
withered; the fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty
ground.
14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured
her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This
is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. And it came to pass
in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month,
that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and
sat before me.
2 Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the
Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to
know the abominations of their fathers:
5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose
Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob,
and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up
mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth
of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing
with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his
eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD
your God.
8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did
not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did
they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury
upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land
of Egypt.
9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted
before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself
known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and
brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if
a man do, he shall even live in them.
12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and
them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they
walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a
man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly
polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the
wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted
before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I
would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with
milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes,
but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did
I make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the
statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile
yourselves with their idols:
19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments,
and do them;
20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you,
that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in
my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do,
he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I
would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them
in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake,
that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose
sight I brought them forth.
23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would
scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the
countries;
24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my
statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their
fathers' idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and
judgments whereby they should not live;
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass
through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them
desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed
me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up
mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all
the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there
they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made
their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And
the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are
ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom
after their abominations?
31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through
the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this
day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,
saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye
say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to
serve wood and stone.
33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of
the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there
will I plead with you face to face.
36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you
into the bond of the covenant:
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that
transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where
they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.
39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve
ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto
me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your
idols.
40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in
the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require
your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your
holy things.
41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from
the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been
scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into
the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine
hand to give it to your fathers.
43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein
ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight
for all your evils that ye have committed.
44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you
for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to
your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. Moreover
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward
the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall
devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame
shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall
be burned therein.
48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall
not be quenched.
49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak
parables? And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man,
set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy
places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am
against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will
cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the
wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all
flesh from the south to the north:
5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out
of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and
with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou?
that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every
heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall
faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and
shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
8 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a
sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it
may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my
son, as every tree.
11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this
sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of
the slayer.
12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall
be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall
be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod?
it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands
together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the
slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth
into their privy chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that
their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made
bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
16 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left,
whithersoever thy face is set.
17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to
rest: I the LORD have said it.
18 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the
king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land:
and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites,
and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head
of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he
consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint
captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with
shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount,
and to build a fort.
23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to
them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the
iniquity, that they may be taken.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your
iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered,
so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye
are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when
iniquity shall have an end,
26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown:
this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that
is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more,
until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD
concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou,
The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to
consume because of the glittering:
29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto
thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the
wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the
place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against
thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish
men, and skilful to destroy.
32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst
of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have
spoken it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Now,
thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea,
thou shalt shew her all her abominations. 3 Then say thou, Thus saith
the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time
may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 4 Thou
art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled
thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy
days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I
made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee,
which art infamous and much vexed. 6 Behold, the princes of Israel,
every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. 7 In thee have
they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they
dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the
fatherless and the widow. 8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and
hast profaned my sabbaths. 9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed
blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee
they commit lewdness. 10 In thee have they discovered their fathers'
nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for
pollution. 11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's
wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another
in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In thee have
they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and
thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast
forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. 13 Behold, therefore I have smitten
mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood
which hath been in the midst of thee. 14 Can thine heart endure, or can
thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the
LORD have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter thee among
the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy
filthiness out of thee. 16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in
thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the
LORD. 17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man,
the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin,
and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the
dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are
all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of
Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and
tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt
it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave
you there, and melt you. 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you
in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be
melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have
poured out my fury upon you. 23 And the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not
cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a
conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion
ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the
treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the
midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned
mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and
profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and
the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned
among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves
ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get
dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered
morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith
the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land
have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor
and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I
sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand
in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I
found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them;
I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I
recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. The word of the LORD
came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, there were two women, the
daughters of one mother: 3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they
committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed,
and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 4 And the names of
them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were
mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria
is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. 5 And Aholah played the harlot when
she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her
neighbours, 6 Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of
them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. 7 Thus she
committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen
men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols
she defiled herself. 8 Neither left she her whoredoms brought from
Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts
of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. 9 Wherefore I
have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the
Assyrians, upon whom she doted. 10 These discovered her nakedness: they
took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she
became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
11 And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her
inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in
her whoredoms.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers
clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them
desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men
pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with
vermilion,
15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon
their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the
Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and
sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they
defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and
her mind was alienated from them.
18 So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then
my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her
sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days
of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of
asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in
bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise
up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will
bring them against thee on every side;
23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa,
and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men,
captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon
horses.
24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels,
and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler
and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them,
and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal
furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and
thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy
daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy
fair jewels.
27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom
brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine
eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the
hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind
is alienated:
29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy
labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy
whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring
after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her
cup into thine hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep
and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it
containeth much.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of
astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the
sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it,
saith the Lord GOD.
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me,
and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and
thy whoredoms.
36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah
and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and
with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused
their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire,
to devour them.
38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary
in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they
came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have
they done in the midst of mine house.
40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto
whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash
thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
41 And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it,
whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the
men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which
put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now
commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth
the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd
women.
45 And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of
adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because
they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them,
and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with
their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn
up their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women
may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear
the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. Again
in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month,
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day:
the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water
into it:
4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh,
and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and
make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot
whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it
out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a
rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her
blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.
9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will
even make the pile for fire great.
10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well,
and let the bones be burned.
11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may
be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in
it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not
forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou
wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more,
till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
14 I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it;
I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent;
according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge
thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15 Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes
with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy
tears run down.
17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of
thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not
thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died;
and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19 And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things
are to us, that thou doest so?
20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I
will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire
of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your
daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
22 And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor
eat the bread of men.
23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your
feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your
iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done
shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord
GOD.
25 Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from
them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes,
and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their
daughters,
26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause
thee to hear it with thine ears?
27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and
thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto
them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. The word of the LORD came
again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against
them;
3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it
was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and
against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;
4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a
possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their
dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy
milk.
5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a
couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
6 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands,
and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite
against the land of Israel;
7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will
deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from
the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I
will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold,
the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from
his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country,
Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,
10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in
possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I
am the LORD.
12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the
house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and
revenged himself upon them;
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand
upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it
desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people
Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according
to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by
revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy
it for the old hatred;
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine
hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and
destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes;
and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance
upon them. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day
of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she
is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I
shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O
Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea
causeth his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers:
I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a
rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the
sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a
spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword;
and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with
horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much
people.
8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall
make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up
the buckler against thee.
9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes
he shall break down thy towers.
10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover
thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the
wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men
enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he
shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go
down to the ground.
12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy
merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy
pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy
dust in the midst of the water.
13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of
thy harps shall be no more heard.
14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place
to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have
spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the
sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in
the midst of thee?
16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones,
and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they
shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground,
and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How
art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned
city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which
cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! Now shall the isles
tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea
shall be troubled at thy departure.
19 For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city,
like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep
upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit,
with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the
earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit,
that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the
living;
21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be
sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea,
which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected
thy beauty.
5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have
taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the
Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of
Chittim.
7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou
spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of
Elishah was that which covered thee.
8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O
Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy
calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to
occupy thy merchandise.
10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of
war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy
comeliness.
11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about,
and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon
thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of
riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the
persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and
horsemen and mules.
15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise
of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and
ebony.
16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of
thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and
broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded
in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and
balm.
18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy
making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and
white wool.
19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright
iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in
lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they
occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious
stones, and gold.
23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and
Chilmad, were thy merchants.
24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes,
and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords,
and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast
replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath
broken thee in the midst of the seas.
27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy
pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy
men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the
midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy
ruin.
28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the
sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry
bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow
themselves in the ashes:
31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them
with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart
and bitter wailing.
32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and
lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed
in the midst of the sea?
33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many
people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of
thy riches and of thy merchandise.
34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of
the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee
shall fall.
35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and
their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their
countenance.
36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a
terror, and never shalt be any more. The word of the LORD came again
unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit
in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and
not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can
hide from thee:
4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee
riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy
riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart
as the heart of God;
7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of
the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy
wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths
of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou
shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of
strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say
unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was
thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx,
and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:
the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in
the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down
in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of
thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as
profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering
cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground,
I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring
forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will
bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold
thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at
thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
20 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
22 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O
Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall
know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her,
and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and
the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her
on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of
Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that
despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of
Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be
sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell
in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and
plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have
executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them;
and they shall know that I am the LORD their God. In the tenth year, in
the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy
against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee,
Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his
rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for
myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy
rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the
midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto
thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the
fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt
not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to
the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD,
because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend
all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and
madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon
thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall
know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I
have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I
will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower
of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass
through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the
countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are
laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the
Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the
countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather
the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them
to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation;
and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt
itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they
shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which
bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after
them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first
month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve
a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every
shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for
the service that he had served against it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of
Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her
multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the
wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he
served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud
forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of
them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. The word of the LORD came
again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe
worth the day!
3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day;
it shall be the time of the heathen.
4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in
Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away
her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub,
and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the
sword.
6 Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the
pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they
fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are
desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are
wasted.
8 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in
Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.
9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the
careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in
the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to
cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be
brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against
Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of
the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by
the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it.
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will
cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a
prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of
Egypt.
14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and
will execute judgments in No.
15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will
cut off the multitude of No.
16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No
shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.
17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and
these cities shall go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break
there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in
her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go
into captivity.
19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I
am the LORD.
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the
seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo,
it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to
make it strong to hold the sword.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king
of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was
broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will
disperse them through the countries.
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my
sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan
before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms
of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the LORD,
when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse
them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD. And
it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first
day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude;
Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and
with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among
the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her
rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers
unto all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field,
and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of
the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his
branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and
under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for
his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees
were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his
branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his
beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all
the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up
thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs,
and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of
the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for
his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and
have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches
are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land;
and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have
left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the
beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves
for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs,
neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for
they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in
the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I
caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the
floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon
to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast
him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees
of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be
comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with
the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in
the midst of the heathen.
18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees
of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the
nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the
uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and
all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD. And it came to pass in the
twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say
unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a
whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and
troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee
with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the
open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon
thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys
with thy height.
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even
to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the
stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon
shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set
darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy
destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not
known.
10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall
be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before
them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own
life, in the day of thy fall.
11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall
come upon thee.
12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the
terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of
Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great
waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the
hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run
like oil, saith the Lord GOD.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall
be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them
that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.
16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the
daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her,
even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of
the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down,
even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether
parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the
uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword:
she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of
hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie
uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all
of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is
round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which
caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of
them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into
the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of
the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to
the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her
multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised,
slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the
living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the
pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.
26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round
about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they
caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the
uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war:
and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities
shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in
the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and
shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their
might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie
with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the
Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they
are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that
be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to
the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his
multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the
Lord GOD.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall
be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with
the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a
man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet,
and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not
warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon
his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood
shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and
the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from
among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at the watchman's hand.
7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them
from me.
8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if
thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if
he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou
hast delivered thy soul.
10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus
ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we
pine away in them, how should we then live?
11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and
live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O
house of Israel?
12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The
righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his
transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall
thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall
the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he
sinneth.
13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he
trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his
righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he
hath committed, he shall die for it.
14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn
from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed,
walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall
surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him:
he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not
equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is
lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel,
I will judge you every one after his ways.
21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the
tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped
out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
22 Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that
was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the
morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel
speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are
many; the land is given us for inheritance.
25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the
blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and
shall ye possess the land?
26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every
one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?
27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely
they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in
the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that
be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.
28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength
shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none
shall pass through.
29 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land
most desolate because of all their abominations which they have
committed.
30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking
against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one
to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and
hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before
thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them:
for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after
their covetousness.
32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a
pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy
words, but they do them not.
33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they
know that a prophet hath been among them. And the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to
the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the
shepherds feed the flocks?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that
are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that
which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither
have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye
sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye
ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they
became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high
hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and
none did search or seek after them.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey,
and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was
no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the
shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I
will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from
feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any
more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not
be meat for them.
11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my
sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his
sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver
them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and
dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the
countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon
the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places
of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of
Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in
a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the
Lord GOD.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was
driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will
strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the
strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge
between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture,
but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and
to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with
your feet?
19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your
feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will
judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all
the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;
22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey;
and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,
even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their
shepherd.
24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince
among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing;
and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be
showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall
yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall
know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke,
and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of
them.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the
beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none
shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no
more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the
heathen any more.
30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and
that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.
31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your
God, saith the Lord GOD. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am
against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will
make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou
shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of
the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their
calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto
blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood,
even blood shall pursue thee.
7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him
that passeth out and him that returneth.
8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and
in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain
with the sword.
9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not
return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries
shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according
to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of
thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when
I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all
thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel,
saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied
your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make
thee desolate.
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel,
because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be
desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall
know that I am the LORD. Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the
mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of
the LORD:
2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you,
Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they
have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye
might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken
up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD;
Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities
that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of
the heathen that are round about;
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy
have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all
Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy
of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the
mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my
fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely
the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches,
and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to
come.
9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be
tilled and sown:
10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all
of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be
builded:
11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase
and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will
do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am
the LORD.
12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and
they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou
shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land
devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;
14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations
any more, saith the Lord GOD.
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen
any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more,
neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord
GOD.
16 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they
defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before
me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had
shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed
through the countries: according to their way and according to their
doings I judged them.
20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they
profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of
the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had
profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I
do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's
sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the
heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen
shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be
sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of
all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean:
from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye
shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call
for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the
field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the
heathen.
31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were
not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your
iniquities and for your abominations.
32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto
you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you
from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities,
and the wastes shall be builded.
34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in
the sight of all that passed by.
35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the
garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become
fenced, and are inhabited.
36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the
LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the
LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the
house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like
a flock.
38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;
so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall
know that I am the LORD. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried
me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the
valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were
very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I
answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them,
O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath
to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his
bone.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,
and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,
and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,
O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them,
and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we
are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up
out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your
graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place
you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken
it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it,
For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take
another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and
for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become
one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,
Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the
stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of
Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of
Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before
their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the
children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and
will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of
Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no
more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any
more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but
I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have
sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will
be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall
have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my
statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my
servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever:
and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply
them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and
they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when
my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. And the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,
the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will
bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers
and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and
helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north
quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company
that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt
come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered
out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been
always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they
shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud
to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the
same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil
thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I
will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them
dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the
desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are
gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that
dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young
lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast
thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and
gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt
thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and
many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company,
and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to
cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee
against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be
sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old
time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those
days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come
up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely
in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places
shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains,
saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I
will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that
are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and
brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known
in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and
will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee
upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine
arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy
bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the
Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly
in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel;
and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen
shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the
day whereof I have spoken.
9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall
set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers,
the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they
shall burn them with fire seven years:
10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down
any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and
they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed
them, saith the Lord GOD.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a
place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the
east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and
there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it
The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that
they may cleanse the land.
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to
them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing
through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the
face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall
they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a
man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have
buried it in the valley of Hamongog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they
cleanse the land.
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves,
and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all
of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with
mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall
see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon
them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from
that day and forward.
23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into
captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me,
therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their
enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions
have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and
will be jealous for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses
whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in
their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them
out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of
many nations;
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them
to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them
unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured
out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. In the five
and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in
the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city
was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and
brought me thither.
2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set
me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on
the south.
3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose
appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his
hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and
hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew
thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou
brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
5 And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the
man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand
breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the
height, one reed.
6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up
the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was
one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed
broad.
7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and
between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the
gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed.
8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.
9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts
thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.
10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this
side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the
posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits;
and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
12 The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this
side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers
were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the
roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against
door.
14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the
court round about the gate.
15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the
porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.
16 And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their
posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and
windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.
17 Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were
chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty
chambers were upon the pavement.
18 And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of
the gates was the lower pavement.
19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate
unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits
eastward and northward.
20 And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he
measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
21 And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on
that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the
measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the
breadth five and twenty cubits.
22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were
after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they
went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before
them.
23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the
north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an
hundred cubits.
24 After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward
the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof
according to these measures.
25 And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about,
like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five
and twenty cubits.
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof
were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another
on that side, upon the posts thereof.
27 And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he
measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits.
28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he
measured the south gate according to these measures;
29 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the
arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in
it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and
five and twenty cubits broad.
30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and
five cubits broad.
31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees
were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.
32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he
measured the gate according to these measures.
33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the
arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were
windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty
cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
34 And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees
were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the
going up to it had eight steps.
35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to
these measures;
36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches
thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty
cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
37 And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees
were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the
going up to it had eight steps.
38 And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the
gates, where they washed the burnt offering.
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two
tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin
offering and the trespass offering.
40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north
gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of
the gate, were two tables.
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the
side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.
42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a
cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit
high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the
burnt offering and the sacrifice.
43 And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon
the tables was the flesh of the offering.
44 And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the
inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their
prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having
the prospect toward the north.
45 And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the
south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the
priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of
Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister
unto him.
47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred
cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house.
48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post
of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side:
and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three
cubits on that side.
49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven
cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and
there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that
side. Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts,
six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other
side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.
2 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door
were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side:
and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth,
twenty cubits.
3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits;
and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.
4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth,
twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most
holy place.
5 After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth
of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every
side.
6 And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in
order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the
side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not
hold in the wall of the house.
7 And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the
side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward
round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still
upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the
midst.
8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of
the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without,
was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side
chambers that were within.
10 And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round
about the house on every side.
11 And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was
left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and
the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
12 Now the building that was before the separate place at the end
toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building
was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety
cubits.
13 So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate
place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits
long;
14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place
toward the east, an hundred cubits.
15 And he measured the length of the building over against the separate
place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side
and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and
the porches of the court;
16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round
about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood
round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows
were covered;
17 To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and
by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree
was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side,
and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it
was made through all the house round about.
20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees
made, and on the wall of the temple.
21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary;
the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.
22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two
cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls
thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is
before the LORD.
23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24 And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves
for the one door, and two leaves for the other door.
25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims
and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick
planks upon the face of the porch without.
26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on
the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers
of the house, and thick planks. Then he brought me forth into the utter
court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber
that was over against the separate place, and which was before the
building toward the north.
2 Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the
breadth was fifty cubits.
3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and
over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery
against gallery in three stories.
4 And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a
way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north.
5 Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher
than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.
6 For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of
the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest
and the middlemost from the ground.
7 And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the
utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof was
fifty cubits.
8 For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty
cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.
9 And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one
goeth into them from the utter court.
10 The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward
the east, over against the separate place, and over against the
building.
11 And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers
which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and
all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and
according to their doors.
12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the
south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before
the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.
13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers,
which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the
priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things:
there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and
the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.
14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the
holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their
garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on
other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the
people.
15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought
me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and
measured it round about.
16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred
reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
17 He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring
reed round about.
18 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring
reed.
19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds
with the measuring reed.
20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five
hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation
between the sanctuary and the profane place. Afterward he brought me to
the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:
2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the
east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth
shined with his glory.
3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw,
even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the
city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river
Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate
whose prospect is toward the east.
5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and,
behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood
by me.
7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the
place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the
children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of
Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their
whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post
by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled
my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore
I have consumed them in mine anger.
9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their
kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they
may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.
11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the
form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof,
and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the
ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws
thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form
thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole
limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law
of the house.
13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit
is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and
the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round
about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar.
14 And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall
be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle
even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one
cubit.
15 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward
shall be four horns.
16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in
the four squares thereof.
17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in
the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a
cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs
shall look toward the east.
18 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are
the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to
offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
19 And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed
of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord
GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.
20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four
horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border
round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.
21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall
burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.
22 And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without
blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they
did cleanse it with the bullock.
23 When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young
bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
24 And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall
cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering
unto the LORD.
25 Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering:
they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock,
without blemish.
26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall
consecrate themselves.
27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth
day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon
the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the
Lord GOD. Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward
sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
2 Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be
opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of
Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread
before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate,
and shall go out by the way of the same.
4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I
looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the
LORD: and I fell upon my face.
5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with
thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee
concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the
laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every
going forth of the sanctuary.
6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of
all your abominations,
7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in
heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute
it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and
they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.
8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set
keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor
uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger
that is among the children of Israel.
10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went
astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall
even bear their iniquity.
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the
gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the
burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand
before them to minister unto them.
12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the
house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine
hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their
iniquity.
13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest
unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy
place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which
they have committed.
14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the
service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge
of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they
shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before
me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my
table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of
the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool
shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner
court, and within.
18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen
breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any
thing that causeth sweat.
19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter
court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they
ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on
other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their
garments.
20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow
long; they shall only poll their heads.
21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner
court.
22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put
away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel,
or a widow that had a priest before.
23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and
profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall
judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my
statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for
father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for
sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner
court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,
saith the Lord GOD.
28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their
inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their
possession.
29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the
trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every
oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the
priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough,
that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.
31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or
torn, whether it be fowl or beast. Moreover, when ye shall divide by
lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD,
an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and
twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This
shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.
2 Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with
five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round
about for the suburbs thereof.
3 And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty
thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the
sanctuary and the most holy place.
4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers
of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and
it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the
sanctuary.
5 And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of
breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for
themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.
6 And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad,
and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the
holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
7 And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the
other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession
of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the
possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east
side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the
portions, from the west border unto the east border.
8 In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall
no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to
the house of Israel according to their tribes.
9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel:
remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away
your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.
10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may
contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an
homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.
12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and
twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.
13 This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah
of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of
an homer of barley:
14 Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the
tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths;
for ten baths are an homer:
15 And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat
pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and
for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord
GOD.
16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince
in Israel.
17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat
offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons,
and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he
shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt
offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house
of Israel.
18 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the
month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the
sanctuary:
19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put
it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle
of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.
20 And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that
erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.
21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall
have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be
eaten.
22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all
the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.
23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the
LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven
days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.
24 And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and
an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.
25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do
the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering,
according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering,
and according to the oil. Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the
inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working
days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new
moon it shall be opened.
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate
without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall
prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall
worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the
gate shall not be shut until the evening.
3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this
gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
4 And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in
the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without
blemish.
5 And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat
offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil
to an ephah.
6 And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without
blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.
7 And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an
ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain
unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.
8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the
porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.
9 But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the
solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to
worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth
by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north
gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in,
but shall go forth over against it.
10 And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in;
and when they go forth, shall go forth.
11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be
an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is
able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.
12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or
peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the
gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt
offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he
shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.
13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of
the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning.
14 And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the
sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper
with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual
ordinance unto the LORD.
15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the
oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering.
16 Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his
sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their
possession by inheritance.
17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants,
then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to
the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them.
18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by
oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give
his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not
scattered every man from his possession.
19 After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the
gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the
north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.
20 Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil
the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the
meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to
sanctify the people.
21 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass
by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the
court there was a court.
22 In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty
cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure.
23 And there was a row of building round about in them, round about
them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round
about.
24 Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where
the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold,
waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for
the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came
down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of
the altar.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me
about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh
eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward,
he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters;
the waters were to the ankles.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the
waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me
through; the waters were to the loins.
5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not
pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that
could not be passed over.
6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought
me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very
many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country,
and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought
forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which
moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there
shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall
come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live
whither the river cometh.
10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from
Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets;
their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great
sea, exceeding many.
11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be
healed; they shall be given to salt.
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that
side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither
shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit
according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the
sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf
thereof for medicine.
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall
inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall
have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the
which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land
shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from
the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus
and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of
Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of
Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this
is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus,
and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border
unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of
strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south
side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a
man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of
Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an
inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you,
which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as
born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have
inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger
sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord
GOD. Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the
coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the
border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his
sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a
portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west
side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side,
a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side,
a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west
side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a
portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side,
shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand
reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the
east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst
of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and
twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation;
toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the
west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in
breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and
the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of
Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the
children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a
thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have
five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all
the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten
thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the
firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the
five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for
dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four
thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five
hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the
west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred
and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the
east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy
portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and
it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the
increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of
Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and
twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the
possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the
other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over
against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east
border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward
the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall
be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the
midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession
of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between
the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the
prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west
side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west
side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side,
Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west
side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side,
Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border
shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to
the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of
Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord
GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four
thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of
Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah,
one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three
gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and
three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of
Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three
gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the
city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
Daniel
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of
the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of
Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the
treasure house of his god.
3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed,
and of the princes;
4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in
all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and
such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom
they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and
of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the
end thereof they might stand before the king.
6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah:
7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto
Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to
Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself
with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank:
therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not
defile himself.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the
prince of the eunuchs.
10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the
king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he
see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort?
then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.
11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set
over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us
pulse to eat, and water to drink.
13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the
countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat:
and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and
fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the
king's meat.
16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that
they should drink; and gave them pulse.
17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all
learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and
dreams.
18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring
them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before
Nebuchadnezzar.
19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none
like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they
before the king.
20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king
enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians
and astrologers that were in all his realm.
21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. And in
the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed
dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from
him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers,
and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams.
So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit
was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for
ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from
me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the
interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses
shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall
receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the
dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the
dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain
the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one
decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak
before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I
shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man
upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no
king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or
astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none
other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling
is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and
they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain
of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of
Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree
so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him
time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this
secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of
the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then
Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and
ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and
setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them
that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the
darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast
given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we
desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's
matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to
destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him;
Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I
will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said
thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will
make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and
the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret
which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the
magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh
known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy
dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed,
what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets
maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that
I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known
the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the
thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image,
whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof
was terrible.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of
silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote
the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to
pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,
broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof
before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field
and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath
made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the
earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh
all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay,
and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in
it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed
with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so
the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the
king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and
the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped
Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet
odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your
God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets,
seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great
gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief
of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat
in the gate of the king. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold,
whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits:
he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the
governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the
counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come
to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set
up.
3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the
treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the
provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image
that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people,
nations, and languages,
5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and
worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be
cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all
the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the
Jews.
9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for
ever.
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and
all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the
province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O
king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which thou hast set up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the
king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden
image which I have set up?
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but
if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out
of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O
Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O
king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve
thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was
changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake,
and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more
than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning
fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their
hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the
burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace
exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down
bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and
spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True,
O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst
of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like
the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery
furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye
servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's
counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies
the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither
were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his
servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god,
except their own God.
29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language,
which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a
dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this
sort.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the
province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations,
and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto
you.
2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God
hath wrought toward me.
3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to
generation.
4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my
palace:
5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and
the visions of my head troubled me.
6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon
before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the
dream.
7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the
soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make
known unto me the interpretation thereof.
8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was
Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the
spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the
spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell
me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation
thereof.
10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a
tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto
heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it
was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the
fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed
of it.
13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher
and an holy one came down from heaven;
14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his
branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts
get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a
band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be
wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in
the grass of the earth:
16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be
given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the
word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the
most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O
Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the
wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the
interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is
in thee.
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour,
and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar,
let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.
Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate
thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height
reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was
meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose
branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy
greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the
end of the earth.
23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from
heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the
stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and
brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew
of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till
seven times pass over him;
24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the
most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen,
and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall
pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy
kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that
the heavens do rule.
27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break
off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to
the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom
of Babylon.
30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have
built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for
the honour of my majesty?
31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from
heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The
kingdom is departed from thee.
32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and
seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he
was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles'
feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto
heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most
High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation:
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him,
What doest thou?
36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my
kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my
counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my
kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven,
all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk
in pride he is able to abase. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to
a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden
and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the
temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his
wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the
temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and
his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of
brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over
against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's
palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled
him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote
one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and
the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of
Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the
interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain
of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
8 Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the
writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was
changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords,
came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live
for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be
changed:
11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy
gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom,
like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king
Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of
the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding,
interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving
of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named
Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the
interpretation.
13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and
said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of
the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee,
and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before
me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the
interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of
the thing:
16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and
dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to
me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and
have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in
the kingdom.
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to
thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing
unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a
kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and
languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and
whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he
would he put down.
20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he
was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like
the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with
grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he
knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he
appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though
thou knewest all this;
23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have
brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords,
thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast
praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone,
which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath
is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was
written.
25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHARSIN.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy
kingdom, and finished it.
27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and
put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning
him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and
two years old. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and
twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the
princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no
damage.
3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes,
because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him
over the whole realm.
4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against
Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor
fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or
fault found in him.
5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and
said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes,
the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish
a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a
petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he
shall be cast into the den of lions.
8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be
not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which
altereth not.
9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his
house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he
kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks
before his God, as he did aforetime.
11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making
supplication before his God.
12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's
decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a
petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king,
shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The
thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which
altereth not.
13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is
of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king,
nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three
times a day.
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with
himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured
till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king,
Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree
nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into
the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom
thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the
king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords;
that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting:
neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep
went from him.
19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste
unto the den of lions.
20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto
Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the
living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver
thee from the lions?
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that
they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in
me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they
should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the
den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in
his God.
24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused
Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children,
and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all
their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that
dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble
and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and
stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in
heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the
lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of
Cyrus the Persian. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon
Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote
the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the
four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the
wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and
made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up
itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between
the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon
the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and
dominion was given to it.
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron
teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with
the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before
it; and it had ten horns.
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another
little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up
by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man,
and a mouth speaking great things.
9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did
sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the
pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as
burning fire.
10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn
spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed,
and given to the burning flame.
12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken
away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and
they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed.
15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the
visions of my head troubled me.
16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth
of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the
things.
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall
arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess
the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse
from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and
his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the
residue with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which
came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes,
and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout
than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints
of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the
whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall
arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from
the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear
out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws:
and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the
dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion,
to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the
most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions
shall serve and obey him.
28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations
much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the
matter in my heart. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a
vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared
unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at
Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a
vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before
the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but
one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that
no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could
deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became
great.
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on
the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat
had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing
before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler
against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was
no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the
ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand.
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the
great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the
four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the
pleasant land.
10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down
some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him
the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was
cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of
transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it
practised, and prospered.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that
certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the
daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the
sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then
shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and
sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the
appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called,
and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and
fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for
at the time of the end shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face
toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last
end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media
and Persia.
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is
between his eyes is the first king.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are
come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he
shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall
destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his
hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall
destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but
he shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is
true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose
up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision,
but none understood it. In the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm
of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the
number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of
Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said,
O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to
them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy
judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake
in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the
people of the land.
7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of
faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off,
through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of
their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our
princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have
rebelled against him;
10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his
laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that
they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us,
and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God,
because we have sinned against him.
12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and
against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil:
for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon
Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us:
yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn
from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon
us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth:
for we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of
the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as
at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let
thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy
holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our
fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are
about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his
supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is
desolate, for the Lord's sake.
18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold
our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do
not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but
for thy great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not,
for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by
thy name.
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and
the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the
LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,
touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now
come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth,
and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore
understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the
Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate. In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a
thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and
the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood
the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,
neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were
fulfilled.
4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the
side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man
clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of
lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet
like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the
voice of a multitude.
7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw
not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled
to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there
remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into
corruption, and I retained no strength.
9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his
words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the
ground.
10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon
the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the
words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now
sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that
thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before
thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty
days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and
I remained there with the kings of Persia.
14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people
in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the
ground, and I became dumb.
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my
lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood
before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and
I have retained no strength.
17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for
as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is
there breath left in me.
18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a
man, and he strengthened me,
19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be
strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was
strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened
me.
20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will
I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth,
lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth:
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael
your prince. Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood
to confirm and to strengthen him.
2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they
all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all
against the realm of Grecia.
3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great
dominion, and do according to his will.
4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be
divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor
according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be
plucked up, even for others beside those.
5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes;
and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall
be a great dominion.
6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the
king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to
make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm;
neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and
they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened
her in these times.
7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate,
which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the
king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:
8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their
princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he
shall continue more years than the king of the north.
9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall
return into his own land.
10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of
great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass
through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come
forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall
set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his
hand.
12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted
up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be
strengthened by it.
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a
multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after
certain years with a great army and with much riches.
14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the
south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to
establish the vision; but they shall fall.
15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take
the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand,
neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to
withstand.
16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will,
and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious
land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole
kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give
him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on
his side, neither be for him.
18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take
many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered
by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn
upon him.
19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he
shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of
the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in
anger, nor in battle.
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall
not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and
obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before
him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he
shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the
province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his
fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and
riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong
holds, even for a time.
25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of
the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred
up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand:
for they shall forecast devices against him.
26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him,
and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.
27 And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall
speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end
shall be at the time appointed.
28 Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart
shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and
return to his own land.
29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south;
but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall
be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant:
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them
that forsake the holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the
sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and
they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by
flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and
do exploits.
33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet
they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil,
many days.
34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help:
but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to
purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it
is yet for a time appointed.
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt
himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak
marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the
indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of
women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom
his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with
precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom
he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them
to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him:
and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter
into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall
be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and
Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the
land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver,
and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the
Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him:
therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to
make away many.
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in
the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none
shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even
to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the
time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased.
5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on
this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the
bank of the river.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters
of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of
the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto
heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a
time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to
scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished.
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall
be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked
shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the
wise shall understand.
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and
the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand
two hundred and ninety days.
12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred
and five and thirty days.
13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand
in thy lot at the end of the days.
Hosea
1 The word of the LORD that came unto 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.
2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to
Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of
whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from
the LORD.
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived,
and bare him a son.
4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little
while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu,
and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of
Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him,
Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house
of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by
the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by
battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I
will not be your God.
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the
sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass,
that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people,
there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be
gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come
up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Say ye unto
your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. Plead with your
mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let
her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her
adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked, and set
her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and
set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children
of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath
done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me
my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a
wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her
lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but
shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my
first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and
multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof,
and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax
given to cover her nakedness.
10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and
none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her
mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and
all her solemn feasts.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath
said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will
make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned
incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her
jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her
vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and
she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day
when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day,
saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more
Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and
they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day will I
make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the
fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will
break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will
make them to lie down safely.
19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and
in mercies.
20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt
know the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD,
I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and
they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon
her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not
my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend,
yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the
children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer
of barley, and an half homer of barley:
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt
not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I
also be for thee.
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and
without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and
without an ephod, and without teraphim:
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD
their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his
goodness in the latter days. Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of
Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the
land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the
land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein
shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as
they that strive with the priest.
5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall
with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no
priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
also forget thy children.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I
change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their
iniquity.
9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them
for their ways, and reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom,
and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the
LORD.
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth
unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and
they have gone a whoring from under their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon
the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof
is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your
spouses shall commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your
spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with
whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth
not understand shall fall.
15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and
come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The
LORD liveth.
16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will
feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her
rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed
because of their sacrifices. Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye
house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is
toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread
upon Tabor.
2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been
a rebuker of them all.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim,
thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the
spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known
the LORD.
5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall
Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with
them.
6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the
LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have
begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their
portions.
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at
Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of
Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore
I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly
walked after the commandment.
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of
Judah as rottenness.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went
Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal
you, nor cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the
house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and
none shall rescue him.
15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their
offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will
heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us
up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth
is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as
the latter and former rain unto the earth.
4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto
thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it
goeth away.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the
words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more
than burnt offerings.
7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they
dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with
blood.
9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests
murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the
whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the
captivity of my people. When I would have healed Israel, then the
iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for
they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of
robbers spoileth without.
2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their
wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before
my face.
3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with
their lies.
4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth
from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of
wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in
wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as
a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all
their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake
not turned.
9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea,
gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not
return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.
11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt,
they go to Assyria.
12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring
them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their
congregation hath heard.
13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them!
because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them,
yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled
upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they
rebel against me.
15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine
mischief against me.
16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful
bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their
tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. Set the
trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of
the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed
against my law.
2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue
him.
4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I
knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols,
that they may be cut off.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled
against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not
God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it
hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the
strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a
vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim
hath hired lovers.
10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather
them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of
princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto
him to sin.
12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were
counted as a strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat
it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their
iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah
hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour the palaces thereof. Rejoice not, O Israel, for
joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou
hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine
shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; but Ephraim shall return to
Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they
be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread
of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread
for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the
LORD?
6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather
them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver,
nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come;
Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad,
for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare
of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah:
therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as
the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to
Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their
abominations were according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the
birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that
there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from
them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim
shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the
wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will
love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no
fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved
fruit of their womb.
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him:
and they shall be wanderers among the nations. Israel is an empty vine,
he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his
fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his
land they have made goodly images.
2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall
break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the
LORD; what then should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus
judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of
Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests
thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is
departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb:
Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own
counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed:
the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall
say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood:
the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake
them.
10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall
be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two
furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out
the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to
ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your
fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain
righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten
the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the
multitude of thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy
fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of
battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a
morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. When Israel was a
child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto
Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew
not that I healed them.
4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to
them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto
them.
5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be
his king, because they refused to return.
6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his
branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called
them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel?
how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine
heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to
destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst
of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he
shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the
land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with
deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily
increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the
Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob
according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he
had power with God:
4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with
us;
5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on
thy God continually.
7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth
to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out
substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that
were sin.
9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make
thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions,
and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice
bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of
the fields.
12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a
wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a
prophet was he preserved.
14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he
leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto
him. When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but
when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of
their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it
the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice
kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew
that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out
of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know
no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled,
and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will
I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will
rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion:
the wild beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy
cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an
unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking
forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them
from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come,
the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring
shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil
the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her
God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in
pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. O Israel, return
unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take
with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all
iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of
our lips. 3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses:
neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods:
for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away
from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily,
and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his
beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that
dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and
grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have
heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy
fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he
shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall
walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Joel
The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.
Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their
children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that
which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which
the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number,
whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a
great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it
clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her
youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of
the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the
new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the
wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate
tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the
field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the
altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for
the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house
of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and
all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God,
and cry unto the LORD,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from
the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate,
the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because
they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures
of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the
field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters
are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the
wilderness. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of
the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick
darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and
a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more
after it, even to the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the
land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as
horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,
like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a
strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall
gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of
war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not
break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his
path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall,
they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows
like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the
sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their
shining:
11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is
very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of
the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD
your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing
behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD
your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders,
gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the
bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch
and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not
thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them:
wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will
send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith:
and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive
him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea,
and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up,
and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great
things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and
the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God:
for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the
first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow
with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the
cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army
which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of
the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people
shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will
I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of
the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall
be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD
shall call. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall
bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the
valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and
for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and
parted my land.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an
harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the
coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye
recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon
your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into
your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold
unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them,
and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the
children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people
far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty
men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears:
let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves
together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O
LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down;
for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is
great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the
LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw
their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will
be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my
holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no
strangers pass through her any more.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop
down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers
of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the
house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate
wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because
they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to
generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the
LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Amos
The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw
concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days
of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the
earthquake.
2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the
top of Carmel shall wither.
3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have
threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour
the palaces of Benhadad.
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant
from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house
of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,
saith the LORD.
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away
captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the
palaces thereof:
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth
the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and
the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.
9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up
the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the
palaces thereof.
11 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his
brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did
tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of
Bozrah.
13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of
Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;
because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they
might enlarge their border:
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour
the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest
in the day of the whirlwind:
15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,
saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he
burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of
Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the
sound of the trumpet:
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay
all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
4 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised
the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies
caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold
the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and
turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in
unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every
altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their
god.
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the
height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed
his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty
years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for
Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the
LORD.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets,
saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of
sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong
shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver
himself:
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift
of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the
horse deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in
that day, saith the LORD. Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken
against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I
brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I
will punish you for all your iniquities.
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young
lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him?
shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at
all?
6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets.
8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken,
who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of
Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and
behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the
midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence
and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even
round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee,
and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the
lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be
taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus
in a couch.
13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the
God of hosts,
14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon
him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar
shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the
houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end,
saith the LORD. Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the
mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy,
which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall
come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your
posterity with fishhooks.
3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is
before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and
bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and
publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of
Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and
want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me,
saith the LORD.
7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet
three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and
caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and
the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but
they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD.
9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and
your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the
palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD.
10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your
young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses;
and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils:
yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the LORD.
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do
this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and
declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning
darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The
God of hosts, is his name. Hear ye this word which I take up against
you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is
forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand
shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall
leave ten, to the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye
shall live:
5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to
Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall
come to nought.
6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the
house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in
Bethel.
7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the
earth,
8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the
shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night:
that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the
face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the
spoiled shall come against the fortress.
10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that
speaketh uprightly.
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take
from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye
shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye
shall not drink wine of them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they
afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in
the gate from their right.
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an
evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God
of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the
gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the
remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing
shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas!
alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are
skilful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee,
saith the LORD.
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for
you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into
the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very
dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your
solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will
not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat
beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear
the melody of thy viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness
forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your
images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. Woe to them that are at
ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named
chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto
Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go
down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or
their border greater than your border?
3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to
come near;
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their
couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the
midst of the stall;
5 That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves
instruments of musick, like David;
6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief
ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive,
and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.
8 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts,
I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I
deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that
they shall die.
10 And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to
bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by
the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say,
No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of
the name of the LORD.
11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house
with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for
ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into
hemlock:
13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken
to us horns by our own strength?
14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you
from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness. Thus
hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers
in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it
was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the
grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by
whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
4 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD
called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat
up a part.
5 Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob
arise? for he is small.
6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord
GOD.
7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A
plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the
midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries
of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of
Jeroboam with the sword.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel,
saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of
Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel
shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into
the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's
chapel, and it is the king's court.
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither
was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore
fruit:
15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto
me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy
not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the
city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy
land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land:
and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Thus hath
the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer
fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of
Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the
Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall
cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of
the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and
the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and
the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of
shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never
forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that
dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall
be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I
will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in
the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into
lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness
upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and
the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine
in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to
the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and
shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan,
liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and
never rise up again. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he
said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut
them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with
the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that
escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though
they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search
and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the
bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite
them:
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I
command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes
upon them for evil, and not for good.
5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall
melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up
wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded
his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and
poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of
Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of
Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I
will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not
utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among
all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least
grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The
evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen,
and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I
will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen,
which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall
overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed;
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and
they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make
gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be
pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy
God.
Obadiah
The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have
heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the
heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I
have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. The
pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the
clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart,
Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the
eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I
bring thee down, saith the LORD. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by
night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had
enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some
grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden
things sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even
to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee,
and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound
under thee: there is none understanding in him. Shall I not in that
day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and
understanding out of the mount of Esau?
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every
one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For thy violence
against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut
off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the
day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners
entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as
one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy
brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou
have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of
distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in
the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their
affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their
substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have
stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither
shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the
day of distress. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen:
as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return
upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so
shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and
they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness;
and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house
of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the
house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour
them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for
the LORD hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount
of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess
the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall
possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of
Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and
the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the
cities of the south.
21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau;
and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.
Jonah
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the
LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so
he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto
Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and
cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it
of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he
lay, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou,
O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon
us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots,
that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast
lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this
evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what
is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God
of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast
thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the
LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea
may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea;
so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they
could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O
LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay
not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased
thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea
ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice
unto the LORD, and made vows.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he
heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and
the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed
over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars
was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from
corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer
came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the
dry land.
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the
preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried,
and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put
on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne,
and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat
in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by
the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink
water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily
unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the
violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his
fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and
God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did it not.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not
this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before
unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it
is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city,
and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he
might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah,
that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.
So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it
smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to
die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And
he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which
thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a
night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more
than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Micah
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and
let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come
down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be
cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a
steep place.
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the
house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria?
and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as
plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into
the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all
the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols
thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an
harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will
make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come
unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of
Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the
inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he
shall receive of you his standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil
came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast:
she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the
transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of
Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he
shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy
baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when
the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of
their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and
take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his
heritage.
3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I
devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither
shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with
a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed
the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away
he hath divided our fields.
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the
congregation of the LORD.
6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not
prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD
straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that
walketh uprightly?
8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe
with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from
war.
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses;
from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is
polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will
prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the
prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather
the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by
reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have
passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall
pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. And I said, Hear, I
pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is
it not for you to know judgment?
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from
off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off
them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the
pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will
even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved
themselves ill in their doings.
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err,
that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not
into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision;
and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun
shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea,
they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of
judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to
Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of
the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach
for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean
upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come
upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and
Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high
places of the forest. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that
the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top
of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people
shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall
go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts
hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we
will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I
will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far
off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of
Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom
shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy
counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a
woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou
shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there
shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand
of thine enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her
be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they
his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn
iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces
many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their
substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. Now gather thyself in
troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall
smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which
travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the
majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into
our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise
against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land
of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the
Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our
borders.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a
dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for
man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of
many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion
among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down,
and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine
enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will
cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy
chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy
strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt
have no more soothsayers:
13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out
of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine
hands.
14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I
destroy thy cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen,
such as they have not heard. Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise,
contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong
foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his
people, and he will plead with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied
thee? testify against me.
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out
of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye
may know the righteousness of the LORD.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the
high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of
a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with
ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath
shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of
thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God? The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall
see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Are there yet
the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant
measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked
balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men
thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken
lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will
I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of
thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down
shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not
deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives,
but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not
drink wine. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a
desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall
bear the reproach of my people. Woe is me! for I am as when they have
gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there
is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit. The good man
is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they
all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and
the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his
mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier:
the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen
and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not
in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy
mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the
father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law
against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own
house. Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of
my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD,
because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute
judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall
behold his righteousness. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and
shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God?
mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire
of the streets. In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day
shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to
thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress
even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings. Feed thy people with thy rod,
the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the
midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of
old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will
I shew unto him marvellous things. The nations shall see and be
confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their
mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a
serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth:
they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of
thee. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not
his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again,
he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and
thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast
sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Nahum
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is
furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he
reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great
in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way
in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the
rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon
languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the
earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell
therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the
rocks are thrown down by him. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the
day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an
overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and
darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD?
he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second
time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are
drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a
wicked counsellor. Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and
likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass
through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For
now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in
sunder. And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no
more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off
the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou
art vile. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts,
perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is
utterly cut off. He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy
power mightily. For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob,
as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out,
and marred their vine branches. The shield of his mighty men is made
red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming
torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be
terribly shaken. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall
justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like
torches, they shall run like the lightnings. He shall recount his
worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to
the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. The gates of the
rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. And Huzzab
shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall
lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away.
Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is
none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the
knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of
them all gather blackness.
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the
young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's
whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for
his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn
her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions:
and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy
messengers shall no more be heard. Woe to the bloody city! it is all
full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and
of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering
spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of
carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon
their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot,
the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her
whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will
discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy
nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and
will set thee as a gazingstock.
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall
flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?
whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers,
that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her
wall was from the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and
Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young
children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and
they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound
in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek
strength because of the enemy.
12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe
figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the
eater.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy
land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour
thy bars.
14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into
clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it
shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the
cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the
cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great
grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the
sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they
are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in
the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man
gathereth them.
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that
hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom
hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Habakkuk
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out
unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for
spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife
and contention.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for
the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment
proceedeth.
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for
I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it
be told you.
6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation,
which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the
dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity
shall proceed of themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce
than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves,
and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle
that hasteth to eat.
9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the
east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn
unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap
dust, and take it.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend,
imputing this his power unto his god.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we
shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O
mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on
iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and
holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more
righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things,
that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their
net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are
glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their
drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to
slay the nations? I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the
tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall
answer when I am reproved.
2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it
plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will
surely come, it will not tarry.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the
just shall live by his faith.
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as
death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and
heapeth unto him all people:
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting
proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is
not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that
shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people
shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the
land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he
may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of
evil!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people,
and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the
timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city
by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour
in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very
vanity?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy
bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on
their nakedness!
16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy
foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned
unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of
beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the
violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven
it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work
trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone,
Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence
before him. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O LORD, I
have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath
remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His
glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his
hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his
feet.
6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the
nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual
hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land
of Midian did tremble.
8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against
the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon
thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes,
even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the
water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on
high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of
thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh
the heathen in anger.
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for
salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house
of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages:
they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to
devour the poor secretly.
15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap
of great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice:
rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I
might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he
will invade them with his troops.
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in
the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation.
19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds'
feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief
singer on my stringed instruments.
Zephaniah
The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the
son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of
Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume all
things from off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and
the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off
the land, saith the LORD. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah,
and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the
remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the
priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops;
and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by
Malcham; And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that
have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him. Hold thy peace at the
presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the
LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I
will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are
clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the
threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there
shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the
second, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut
down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem
with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that
say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a
desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and
they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly,
even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there
bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of
wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of
clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and
against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind
men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall
be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in
the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of
all them that dwell in the land. Gather yourselves together, yea,
gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff,
before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of
the LORD'S anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his
judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid
in the day of the LORD'S anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall
drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the
Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of
the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no
inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and
folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they
shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in
the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away
their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children
of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified
themselves against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah,
even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation:
the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people
shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached
and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods
of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even
all the isles of the heathen.
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy
Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the
nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper
lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall
be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her
heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a
desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth
by her shall hiss, and wag his hand. Woe to her that is filthy and
polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted
not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening
wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have
polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every
morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the
unjust knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their
streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so
that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so
their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but
they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise
up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I
may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all
my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of
my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all
call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter
of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein
thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the
midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be
haughty because of my holy mountain.
12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people,
and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed
and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with
all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine
enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou
shalt not see evil any more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to
Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he
will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy
over thee with singing.
18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who
are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will
save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will
get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to
shame.
20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather
you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the
earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the
LORD.
Haggai 1
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first
day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the
son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is
not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this
house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not
enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but
there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it
into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I
will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought
it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of
mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is
stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains,
and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon
that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle,
and upon all the labour of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of
Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed
the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet,
as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the
LORD.
13 Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto
the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of
Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the
people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts,
their God,
15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year
of Darius the king. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day
of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and
to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of
the people, saying,
3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how
do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as
nothing?
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O
Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people
of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the
LORD of hosts:
5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of
Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and
I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall
come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former,
saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the
LORD of hosts.
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year
of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the
law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his
skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall
it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of
these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall
be unclean.
14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this
nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands;
and that which they offer there is unclean.
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before
a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures,
there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty
vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the
labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth
day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the
LORD'S temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree,
and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from
this day will I bless you.
20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and
twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the
heavens and the earth;
22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the
strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the
chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders
shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O
Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will
make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of
Ooryn to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet,
saying, The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore
say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me,
saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of
hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have
cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil
ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken
unto me, saith the LORD. Your fathers, where are they? and the
prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I
commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your
fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought
to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so
hath he dealt with us. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh
month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the
word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo
the prophet, saying,
8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he
stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him
were there red horses, speckled, and white.
9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked
with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said,
These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the
earth.
11 And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle
trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and,
behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12 Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how
long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah,
against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words
and comfortable words.
14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion
with a great jealousy.
15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for
I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with
mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a
line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through
prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort
Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he
answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel,
and Jerusalem.
20 And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
21 Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are
the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his
head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the
Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter
it. I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a
measuring line in his hand.
2 Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure
Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length
thereof.
3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another
angel went out to meet him,
4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and
cattle therein:
5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about,
and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the
LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven,
saith the LORD.
7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me
unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth
the apple of his eye.
9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a
spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath
sent me.
10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will
dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall
be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt
know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and
shall choose Jerusalem again.
13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of
his holy habitation. And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing
before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to
resist him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the
LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the
angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying,
Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I
have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee
with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a
fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel
of the LORD stood by.
6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if
thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and
shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among
these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit
before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring
forth my servant the BRANCH.
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone
shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith
the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one
day. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his
neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. And the angel that
talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out
of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have
looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top
of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps,
which are upon the top thereof:
3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and
the other upon the left side thereof.
4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying,
What are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the
LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a
plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his
hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts
hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall
rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those
seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the
whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees
upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive
branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of
themselves?
13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I
said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the
Lord of the whole earth. Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and
looked, and behold a flying roll.
2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying
roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten
cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the
face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off
as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be
cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter
into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth
falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and
shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift
up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth
forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the
earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a
woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the
ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out
two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the
wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and
the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear
the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and
it shall be established, and set there upon her own base. And I turned,
and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four
chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were
mountains of brass.
2 In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black
horses;
3 And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot
grisled and bay horses.
4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are
these, my lord?
5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits
of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the
earth.
6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country;
and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the
south country.
7 And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and
fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro
through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.
8 Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that
go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north
country.
9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of
Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and
go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the
head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of
his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the
glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest
upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah,
and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the
LORD.
15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the
LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of
the LORD your God. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king
Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day
of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech,
and their men, to pray before the LORD,
3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of
hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month,
separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,
When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those
seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for
yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former
prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the
cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the
plain?
8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and
shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the
poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your
heart.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and
stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should
hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his
spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the
LORD of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not
hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom
they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man
passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great
jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the
midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and
the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women
dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his
hand for very age.
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing
in the streets thereof.
6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the
remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in
mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the
east country, and from the west country;
8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in
truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear
in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in
the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid,
that the temple might be built.
10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for
beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in
because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his
neighbour. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in
the former days, saith the LORD of hosts. For the seed shall be
prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give
her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause
the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall
come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of
Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a
blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when
your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I
repented not: So again have I thought in these days to do well unto
Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth
to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your
gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I
hate, saith the LORD.
18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the
fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the
tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful
feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there
shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us
go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I
will go also.
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of
hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass,
that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even
shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go
with you: for we have heard that God is with you. The burden of the
word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest
thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be
toward the LORD.
2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be
very wise.
3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as
the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in
the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very
sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the
king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of
the Philistines.
7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations
from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for
our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a
Jebusite.
8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of
him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no
oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with
mine eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from
Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak
peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea,
and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy
prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I
declare that I will render double unto thee;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and
raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee
as the sword of a mighty man.
14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth
as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go
with whirlwinds of the south.
15 The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and
subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as
through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners
of the altar.
16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of
his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an
ensign upon his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn
shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. Ask ye of
the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make
bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the
field.
2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie,
and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went
their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no
shepherd.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the
goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah,
and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the
battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in
the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because
the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house
of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy
upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I
am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall
rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad;
their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and
they shall increase as they have increased.
9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in
far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather
them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and
Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite
the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and
the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt
shall depart away.
12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and
down in his name, saith the LORD. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the
fire may devour thy cedars.
2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are
spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is
come down.
3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is
spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan
is spoiled.
4 Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they
that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own
shepherds pity them not.
6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD:
but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand,
and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out
of their hand I will not deliver them.
7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the
flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the
other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them,
and their soul also abhorred me.
9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and
that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat
every one the flesh of another.
10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might
break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that
waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if
not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price
that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver,
and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break
the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a
foolish shepherd.
16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not
visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal
that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall
eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be
upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up,
and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. The burden of the word of
the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the
heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit
of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling
unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both
against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make
Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves
with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be
gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite
every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will
open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of
the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in
their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the
LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah
like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a
sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right
hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own
place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah
first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In
that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he
that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house
of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and
of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and
shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as
the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land
shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David
apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart,
and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their
wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the
families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. In
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. 2 And it
shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will
cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more
be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean
spirit to pass out of the land. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when
any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him
shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the
name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall
thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4 And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision,
when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to
deceive: 5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for
man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. 6 And one shall say unto
him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those
with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. 7 Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the
LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered:
and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to
pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be
cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall
say, The LORD is my God. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy
spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and
the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall
go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut
off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet
shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a
very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the
valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach
unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God
shall come, and all the saints with thee. 6 And it shall come to pass
in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: 7 But it
shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night:
but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. 8
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward
the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD
shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD,
and his name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba
to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited
in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate,
unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's
winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more
utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12 And this
shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that
have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while
they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their
holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it
shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall
be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his
neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his
neighbour. 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth
of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and
silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague
of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the
beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16 And it shall
come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the
King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And
it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the
earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon
them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and
come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the
LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the
punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles. 20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the
horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall
be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and
in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that
sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that
day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of
hosts.
Malachi
The burden of the word of Ooryn to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you,
says Ooryn. Yet you say, Since when have you loved us? Was not Esau
Jacob's brother? Ooryn says: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and
laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the
wilderness. Then Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and
build the desolate places; then Ooryn says, They shall build, but I
will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness,
and, The people against whom the Ooryn has indignation for ever. And
your eyes shall see, and you will say, Ooryn will be magnified from the
border of Israel. A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if
then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be a master, where is
my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my
name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer
polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted
thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 8 And if
ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the
lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he
be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 9
And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this
hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of
hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for
nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no
pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an
offering at your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the
going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and
in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure
offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD
of hosts. 12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the
LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is
contemptible. 13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye
have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which
was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering:
should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. 14 But cursed be the
deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth
unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of
hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. And now, O ye
priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye
will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of
hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your
blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to
heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your
faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away
with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. My
covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the
fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of
truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he
walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from
iniquity. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of
hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to
stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the
LORD of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base
before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have
been partial in the law. Have we not all one father? hath not one God
created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother,
by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah hath dealt
treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in
Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he
loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The LORD will
cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the
tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD
of hosts. And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD
with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he
regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at
your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness
between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt
treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And
wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to
your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his
youth. For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting
away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of
hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not
treacherously. Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say,
Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is
good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is
the God of judgment? Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight
in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide
the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is
like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 3 And he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an
offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and
Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in
former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a
swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and
against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the
stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. For
I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine
ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return
unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we
return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a
curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall
not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for
your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither
shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the
LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be
a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. Your words have been stout
against me, says Ooryn. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against
thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that
we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before
the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work
wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD
hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before
him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And
they will be mine, says Ooryn, in that day when I make up my jewels;
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. For, behold,
the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and
all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth,
and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked;
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I
shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my
servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the
statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of
the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse.
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